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SNOW WAITE 
AND OTAER STORIES 




With illustrations in color / 
by Wuanita Smith 

And in black and white 
by Edward Shenton 

George W. Jacobs & Company" 

Riblishers Philadelphia 


Copyright, 1922, by 
George W. Jacobs & Company 


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All rights reserved 
Printed in U. S, A. 


NOV 13 '22 

©C1A703002 

\ / 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Snow-White . . . . . • . 7 

Hansel and Grettel . . . • 22 

Sleeping Beauty 36 

The Elves and the Shoemaker . . 42 

The Bremen Town-Musicians ... 46 

The Table, the Ass, and the Stick . • 52 

The Fisherman and His Wife . . . 70 

The Golden Goose 84 

Karl Katz 92 

The Twelve Huntsmen . . . . ioi 

Hans in Luck 106 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 

They were so full of joy that they did not 

waken her Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Hansel put out a knuckle-bone and the old woman 

thought it was his finger 22 

“Good day, Granny/^ said the Princess; “what 

are you doing there? ” 36 

With their tiny fingers they began to stitch . . 42 

The flounder came swimming up . . . .70 

The King's daughter was so solemn that no one 

could make her laugh 84 

Karl followed, and found a path leading downwards 

through a cleft in the rocks .... 92 


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SNOW-WHITE 


TT was the middle of winter, and the snow- 
flakes were falling like feathers from the sky, 
and a queen sat at her window working, and her 
embroidery-frame was of ebony. And as she 
worked, gazing at times out on the snow, she 
pricked her finger, and there fell from it three 
drops of blood on the snow. And when she saw 
how bright and red it looked, she said to herself, 
“ Oh, that I had a child as white as snow, as red 
as blood, and as black as the wood of the em- 
broidery frame! ” 

Not very long after she had a daughter, with 
a skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and 
hair as black as ebony, and she was named Snow- 
white. And when she was born the Queen died. 

After a year had gone by the King took an- 
other wife, a beautiful woman, but very proud, 
and she could not bear that any other woman 
should be as beautiful as she was. She had a 


8 


SNOW-WHITE 


magic looking-glass, and she used to stand before 
it, and look in it, and say : 

“ Looking-glass upon the wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 

And the looking-glass would answer: 

“ You are fairest of them all.” 

And she was contented, for she knew that the 
looking-glass spoke the truth. 

Now, Snow-white was growing prettier and 
prettier, and when she was seven years old she 
was far more beautiful than the Queen herself. 
So one day when the Queen went to her mirror 
and said: 

“ Looking-glass upon the wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 

The mirror answered: 

‘‘ Queen, you are very fair, ’tis true, 

But Snow-white fairer is than you.” 

This gave the Queen a great shock, and sHe 
became yellow and green with envy, and from 


SNOW-WHITE 


9 


that hour her heart turned against Snow-white, 
and she hated her. At last she sent for a hunts- 
man, and said; 

“ Take the child out into the woods, so that I 
may set eyes on her no more. You must put her 
to death, and bring me her heart for a token.” 

The huntsman agreed, and led her away; but 
when he drew his sword to pierce Snow-white’s 
innocent heart, she began to weep, and to say: 

“ Oh, dear huntsman, do not take my life; I 
will go away into the wild wood, and never come 
home again.” 

And as she was so lovely the huntsman had 
pity on her, and said: 

“Away with you then, poor child!” Just at 
that moment a young wild boar came running 
by, so he caught and killed it, and taking out its 
heart, he brought it to the Queen for a token. 

Now, when the poor child found herself quite 
alone in the wild woods, she did not know what 
to do for fright. She began to run over the 
sharp stones and through the thorn bushes, and 
the wild beasts after her, but they did her no 
harm. She ran as long as her feet would carry 
her; and when the evening drew near she came to 
a little house, and she went inside to rest. Every- 


10 


SNOW-WHITE 


thing there was very small, but as pretty and 
clean as possible. There stood the little table, 
covered with a white cloth, and laid with seven 
little plates, and seven knives and forks, and 
drinking-cups. By the wall stood seven little 
beds, side by side, covered with clean white quilts. 
Snow-white, being very hungry and thirsty, ate 
from each plate a little porridge and bread, and 
drank out of each little cup a drop of wine, so as 
not to take all from any one plate or cup. After 
that she felt so tired that she lay down on one of 
the beds, but it did not seem to suit her; one was 
too long, another too short, but she found the 
seventh was quite right; and so she lay down 
upon it, said her prayers, and fell asleep. 

When it was quite dark, the owners of the 
house came home. They were seven dwarfs, who 
dug among the mountains. When they had 
lighted their seven candles, and it was quite light 
in the little house, they saw that some one must 
have been there, as nothing was as they had left 
it. The first dwarf said: 

“ Who has been sitting in my little chair? ” 
The second said: 

“ Who has been eating from my little plate? ” 
The third said: 


SNOW-WHITE dl 

“ Who has been taking my little loaf? 

The fourth said: 

“ Who has been tasting my porridge? ’’ 

The fifth said: 

“ Who has been using my little fork? ” 

The sixth said: 

Who has been cutting with my little knife? ” 
The seventh said: 

‘‘ Who has been drinking from my little cup? ” 
Then the first one, looking round, saw a hollow 
in his bed, and cried: 

“ Who has been lying on my bed? ” 

And the others came running, and cried: 
“Some one has been on our beds, too! ” 

But when the seventh looked at his bed, he saw 
little Snow-white lying there asleep. Then he 
told the others, who came running up, and hold- 
ing their seven little candles to throw a light 
upon Snow-white. 

“ O goodness ! O gracious ! ” they cried, “ what 
beautiful child is this? ” and were so full of joy 
to see her that they did not wake her, but let her 
sleep on. And the seventh dwarf slept an hour 
at a time with each of the others until the night 
had passed. 

When it was morning, and Snow-white awoke 


12 


SNOW-WHITE 


and saw the seven dwarfs, she was very fright- 
ened; but they seemed quite friendly, and asked 
her what her name was and how she came to be 
in their house, and she told them. Then the 
dwarfs said: 

“ If you will keep our house for us, and cook, 
and wash, and make the beds, and sew and knit, 
and keep everything tidy and clean, you may 
stay with us, and you shall have everything you 
want.” 

^‘With all my heart,” said Snow-white; and 
so she stayed, and kept the house in good order. 
In the morning the dwarfs went to the mountain 
to dig for gold; in the evening they came home, 
and their supper had to be ready for them. All 
day long Snow-white was left alone, and the good 
little dwarfs warned her, saying: 

“ Beware of your stepmother; she will soon 
know you are here. Let no one into the house.” 

Now the Queen, thinking that Snow-white had 
been killed, felt quite sure that now she was the 
most beautiful woman in the country, and so she 
went to her mirror, and said: 

“ Looking-glass upon tlie wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 


SNOW-WHITE 


13 


And the glass answered: 

“ Queen, thou art of beauty rare, 

But Snow-white living in the glen 

With the seven little men 

Is a thousand times more fair.” 

Then she was very angry, for the glass always 
spoke the truth, and she knew that the huntsman 
must have deceived her, and that Snow-white 
must still be living. And she thought and 
thought how she could manage to make an end 
of her. At last she thought of a plan; she 
painted her face and dressed herself like an old 
peddler woman, so that no one would have known 
her. In this disguise she went across the seven 
mountains, until she came to the house of the 
seven little dwarfs, and she knocked at the door 
and cried: 

“ Fine goods to sell! fine goods to sell! ” 

Snow-white peeped out of the window and 
cried : 

‘‘ Good-day, good woman, what have you to 
sell?” 

‘‘ Good wares, fine wares,” answered she, 
“laces of all colors;” and she held up a piece 
that was woven of silk of many colors. 


14 


SNOW-WHITE 


‘‘ I need not be afraid of letting this good 
woman come in/’ thought Snow-white, and she 
unlocked the door and bought the pretty lace. 

“ Let me lace you properly,” said the old 
woman. 

Snow-white stood up before her, and let her 
lace her with the new lace; but the old woman 
laced so quick and tight that it took Snow-white’s 
breath away, and she fell down as if dead. 

“Now you have done with being the fairest,” 
said the old woman as she hastened away. 

Not long after that, towards evening, the seven 
dwarfs came home, and were terrified to see their 
dear Snow-white lying on the ground, without 
life or motion; they raised her up, and when they 
saw how tightly she was laced they cut the lace 
in two; then she began to draw breath. When 
the dwarfs heard what had happened they said : 

“ The old peddler woman was the wicked 
queen; you must beware of letting any one in 
when we are not here! ” 

And when the wicked woman got home she 
went to her glass and said: 

“ Looking-glass against the wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 


SNOW-WHITE 


15 


And it answered as before: 

“ Queen, thou art of beauty rare, 

But Snow-white living in the glen 

With the seven little men 

Is a thousand times more fair.” 

When she heard tfiat she was very mucH sur- 
prised, for she knew that Snow-white must still 
be living. 

“ But now,” said she, “ I will think of some- 
thing that will be her ruin.” And by witchcraft 
she made a poisoned comb. Then she dressed 
herself up to look like a different sort of old 
woman. So she went across the seven mountains 
and came to the house of the seven dwarfs, and 
knocked at the door and cried: 

“ Good wares to sell! good wares to sell! ” 

Snow-white looked out and said: 

“ Go away, I must not let anybody in.” 

‘‘ But you are not forbidden to look,” said the 
old woman, taking out the j)oisoned comb and 
holding it up. It pleased Snow-white so much 
that she opened the door; and when the bargain 
was made the old woman said: 

“ Now, your hair shall be properly combed.” 

But no sooner was the comb put in Snow- 


16 


SNOW-WHITE 


white’s hair than the poison began to work, and 
the poor girl fell down senseless. 

“ Now,” said the wicked woman, “ this is the 
end of you,” and went off. By good luck it was 
now near evening, and the seven little dwarfs 
came home. When they saw Snow-white lying 
on the ground as dead, they thought directly that 
it was the stepmother’s doing, and looked about, 
found the poisoned comb, and no sooner had they 
drawn it out of her hair than Snow-white came 
to herself, and told them all that had passed. 
Then they warned her once more to be on her 
gnard, and never again to let any one in at the 
door. 

And the Queen went home and stood before 
the looking-glass and said: 

“ Looking-glass against the wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 

And the looking-glass answered as before: 

‘‘ Queen, thou art of beauty rare, 

But Snow-white living in the glen 

With the seven little men 

Is a thousand times more fair.” 

"Wlien she heard the looking-glass speak thus 
she trembled and shook with anger. 


SNOW-WHITE 


17 


‘‘ Snow-white shall die,” cried she, ‘‘ though it 
should cost me my own life!” And then she 
went to a secret lonely chamber, where no one 
was likely to come, and there she made a poison- 
ous apple. It was beautiful to look upon, being 
white with red cheeks, so that any one who should 
see it must long for it, but whoever ate even a 
little bit of it must die. When the apple was 
ready she painted her face and clothed herself 
like a peasant woman, and went across the seven 
mountains to where the seven dwarfs lived. And 
when she knocked at the door Snow-white put 
her head out of the window and said: 

“ I dare not let anybody in; the seven dwarfs 
told me not to.” 

‘'All right,” answered the woman; “I can 
easily get rid of my apples elsewhere. There, I 
will give you one.” 

“ No,” answered Snow-white, “ I dare not take 
anything.” 

“Are you afraid of poison? ” said the woman. 
“ Look here, I will cut the apple in two pieces; 
you shall have the red side, I will have the white 
one.” 

For the apple was so cunningly made, that all 
the poison was in the rosy half of it. Snow-white 


18 


SNOW-WHITE 


wanted the beautiful apple, and as she saw the 
peasant woman eating a piece of it she stretched 
out her hand and took the poisoned half. But 
no sooner had she taken a bit of it into her mouth 
than she fell to the earth as dead. And the 
Queen laughed aloud and cried: 

“As white as snow, as red as blood, as black as 
ebony! this time the dwarfs will not be able to 
bring you to life again.” 

And when she went home and asked the look- 
ing-glass: 

“ Looking-glass against the wall, 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 

at last it answered: 

“ You are the fairest now of all.” 

Then her envious heart had peace, as much as 
an envious heart can have. 

The dwarfs, when they came home in the even- 
ing, found Snow-white lying on the ground, and 
there came no breath out of her mouth, and she 
was dead. They lifted her up, sought if any- 
thing poisonous was to be found, cut her laces, 
combed her hair, washed her with water and wine, 
but all was of no avail, the poor child was dead, 
and remained dead. Then they laid her on a 


SNOW-WHITE 19 

bier, and sat all seven of them around it, and 
wept and lamented three whole days. And 
then they would have buried her, but that she 
looked still as if she were living, with her beauti- 
ful blooming cheeks. So they said: 

“We cannot hide her away in the black 
ground.” And they had made a coffin of clear 
glass, so as to be looked into from all sides, and 
they laid her in it, and wrote in golden letters 
upon it her name, and that she was a king's 
daughter. Then they set the coffin out upon the 
mountain, and one of them always remained by 
it to watch. And the birds came too, and 
mourned for Snow-white, first an owl, then a 
raven, and lastly, a dove. 

Now, for a long while Snow-white lay in the 
coffin and never changed, but looked as if she 
were asleep, for she was still as white as snow, 
as red as blood, and her hair was as black as 
ebony. It happened, however, that one day a 
king’s son rode through the wood and up to the 
dwarfs’ house, which was near it. He saw on 
the mountain the coffin, and beautiful Snow- 
white within it, and he read what was written 
in golden letters upon it. Then he said to the 
dwarfs: 


20 


SNOW-WHITE 


“ Let me have the coffin, and I will give you 
whatever you like to ask for it/’ 

But the dwarfs told him that they could not 
part with it for all the gold in the world. But 
he said: 

“ I beg you to give it to me, for I cannot live 
without looking upon Snow-white; if you con- 
sent I will bring you to great honor, and care 
for you as if you were my brethren.” 

When he spoke so the good little dwarfs had 
pity upon him and gave him the coffin, and the 
King’s son called his servants and bade them 
carry it away on their shoulders. Now it hap- 
pened that as they were going along they stum- 
bled over a bush, and with the shaking the bit 
of poisoned apple flew out of her throat. It was 
not long before she opened her eyes, threw up 
the cover of the coffin, and sat up, alive and well. 

“Oh dear! where am I?” cried she. The 
King’s son answered, full of joy, “You are near 
me,” and, relating all that had happened, he 
said: 

“ I would rather have you than anything in 
the world; come with me to my father’s castle 
and you shall be my bride.” 

And Snow-white was kind, and went with him, 


SNOW-WHITE 21 

and their wedding was held with pomp and great 
sj)lendor. 

But Snow-white’s wicked stepmother was also 
bidden to the feast, and when she had dressed 
herself in beautiful clothes she went to her look- 
ing-glass and said: 

Looking-glass upon the wall. 

Who is fairest of us all? ” 

The looking-glass answered: 

“ O Queen, although you are of beauty rare, 

The young bride is a thousand times more fair.” 

Then she was beside herself with disappoint- 
ment and anger. First she thought she would 
not go to the wedding; but then she felt she 
should have no peace until she went and saw the 
bride. And when she saw her she knew her for 
Snow-white. So Snow-white married the King’s 
son and the wicked stepmother left the wedding 
so angry that she fell down in a fit and died. 


hansel; AND GRETTEL 


C LOSE to a large forest there lived a wood- 
cutter with his wife and his two children. 
The boy was called Hansel, and the girl Grettel. 
They were always very poor, and had very little 
to live on; and at one time, when there was 
famine in the land, he could no longer get daily 
bread. 

One night he lay in bed worrying over his 
troubles, and he sighed and said to his wife: 
“ ^Vhat is to become of us? How are we to 
feed our poor children when we have nothing for 
ourselves? ” 

“ I’ll tell you what, husband,” answered the 
woman, “ to-morrow morning we will take the 
children out quite early into the thickest part of 
the forest. We will light a fire, and give each 
of them a piece of bread; then we will go to our 
work and leave them alone. They won’t be able 
to find their way back, and so we shall be rid of 
them.” 






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HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


23 


“ No, wife,” said the man; ‘‘ we won’t do that. 
I could never find it in my heart to leave my 
children alone in the forest; the wild animals 
would soon tear them to pieces.” 

“What a fool you are!” she said. “Then 
we must all four die of hunger.” 

She gave him no peace till he consented. 
“ But I grieve over the poor children all the 
same,” said the man. 

The two children could not go to sleep for 
hunger either, and they heard what their step- 
mother said to their father. 

Grettel wept bitterly, and said: “ All is over 
with us now! ” 

“Be quiet, Grettel!” said Hansel. “Don’t 
cry; I will find some way out of it.” 

When the old people had gone to sleep, he got 
up, put on his little coat, opened the door, and 
slipped out. The moon was shining brightly, 
and the white pebbles round the house shone like 
new coins. Hansel stooped down and put as 
many in his pockets as they would hold. 

Then he went back to Grettel, and said: 
“ Take comfort, little sister, and go to sleep. 
God won’t forsake us.” And then he went to bed 
again. 


24 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


Before the sun had risen, the woman came and 
said: ‘‘ Get up, you lazy bones; we are going into 
the forest to fetch wood.” 

Then she gave them each a piece of bread, and 
said: “ Here is something for your dinner, but 
mind you don’t eat it before, for you’ll get no 
more.” 

Grettel put the bread under her apron, for 
Hansel had the stones in his pockets. Then they 
all started for the forest. 

When they had gone a little way, Hansel 
stopped and looked back at the cottage, and he 
did the same thing again and again. 

His father said: “ Hansel, what are you stop- 
ping to look back at? Take care, and put your 
best foot foremost.” 

‘‘ Oh, Father! ” said Hansel, ‘‘ I am looking at 
my white cat; it is sitting on the roof, wanting 
to say good-bye to me.” 

“Little fool! that’s no cat, it’s the morning 
sun shining on the chimney,” said the step- 
mother. 

But Hansel had not been looking at the cat; 
he had been dropping a pebble on the gi’ound 
each time he stopped. When they reached the 
middle of the forest, their father said: 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 25 

‘‘ Now, children, pick up some wood, I want 
to make a fire to warm you.” 

Hansel and Grettel gathered the twigs to- 
gether and soon made a huge pile. Then the pile 
was lighted, and when it blazed up, the woman 
said: ‘‘Now lie down by the fire and rest your- 
selves while we go and cut wood; when we have 
finished we will come back to get you.” 

Hansel and Grettel sat by the fire, and when 
dinner-time came they each ate their little bit of 
bread, and they thought their father was quite 
near because they could hear the sound of an ax. 
It was no ax, however, but a branch which the 
man had tied to a dead tree, and which blew 
backwards and forwards against it. They sat 
there such a long time that they got tired, their 
eyes began to close, and they were soon fast 
asleep. 

.When they woke it was dark night. Grettel 
began to cry: “ How shall we ever get out of the 
wood! ” 

But Hansel comforted her, and said: “Wait 
a little till the moon rises, then we will soon find 
our way.” 

When the full moon rose. Hansel took his lit- 
tle sister’s hand, and they walked on, guided by 


26 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


the pebbles, which glittered like newly coined 
money. They walked the whole night, and at 
daybreak they found themselves back at their 
father’s cottage. 

They knocked at the door, and when the 
woman opened it and saw Hansel and Grettel, 
she said: “ You bad children, why did you sleep 
so long in the wood? We thought you did not 
mean to come back any more.” 

But their father was delighted, for he had not 
wanted to leave them behind alone. 

Not long after the children heard the woman 
at night say to their father: “We have eaten up 
everything again but half a loaf of bread. The 
children must go away; we will take them further 
into the forest so that they won’t be able to find 
their way back. There is nothing else to be 
done.” 

The man took it much to heart, and said: 
“ We had better share our last crust with the 
children.” 

But the woman would not listen to a word he 
said, she only scolded him. As the father had 
given in the first time, he had to do so the sec- 
ond. The children were wide awake and heard 
what was said. 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 27 

When the old people went to sleep Hansel 
again got up, meaning to go out and get some 
more pebbles, but the woman had locked the door 
and he couldn’t get out. But he said to his little 
sister: 

‘‘Don’t ci^y, Grettel; go to sleep. God will 
help us.” 

In the early morning the woman made the 
children get up, and gave them each a piece of 
bread, but it was smaller than the last. On the 
way to the forest Hansel crumbled it up in his 
pocket, and stopped every now and then to 
throw a crumb on the gi’ound. 

“ Hansel, what are you stopping to look about 
you for? ” asked his father. 

“ I am looking at my dove which is sitting on 
the roof and wants to say good-bye to me,” an- 
swered Hansel. 

“ Little fool ! ” said the woman, “ that is no 
dove, it is the morning sun shining on the chim- 
ney.” 

Nevertheless, Hansel scattered the crumbs 
from time to time on the ground. The woman 
led the children far into the forest where they 
had never been in their lives before. Again they 
made a big fire, and the woman said; 


28 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


‘‘ Stay where you are, children, and when you 
are tired you may go to sleep for a while. We 
are going further on to cut wood, and in the 
evening when we have finished we will come back 
and get you.” 

At dinner-time Grettel shared her bread with 
Hansel, for he had scattered his on the road. 
Then they went to sleep, and the evening passed, 
but no one came to get the poor children. 

It was quite dark when they woke up, and 
Hansel cheered his little sister, and said: “ Wait 
a bit, Grettel, till the moon rises, then we can see 
the bread-crumbs which I scattered to show us 
the way home.” 

When the moon rose they started, but they 
found no bread-crumbs, for all the birds in the 
forest had pecked them up and eaten them. 

Hansel said to Grettel: “We shall soon find 
the way.” 

But they could not find it. They walked the 
whole night, and all the next day from morning 
till night, but they could not get out of the 
wood. 

They were very hungry, for they Had nothing 
to eat but a few berries which they found. They 
were so tired that their legs would not carry 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


29 


them any further, and they lay down under a 
tree and went to sleep. 

When they woke in the morning, it was the 
third day since they had left their father’s cot- 
tage. They started to walk again, but they only 
got deeper and deeper into the wood, and if no 
help came they must perish. 

At midday they saw a beautiful snow-white 
bird sitting on a tree. It sang so beautifully 
that they stood still to listen to it. When it 
stopped, it fluttered its wings and flew around 
them. They followed it till they came to a little 
cottage, on the roof of which it settled itself. 

When they got quite near, they saw that the 
little house was made of bread, and it was roofed 
with cake; the windows were clear sugar. 

“ This will be something for us,” said Hansel. 
“We will have a good meal. I will have a piece 
of the roof, Grettel, and you can have a bit of 
the window; it will be nice and sweet.” 

Hansel reached up and broke off a piece of the 
roof to And out what it was like. Grettel went 
to the window and nibbled at that. A gentle 
voice called out from within: 

Nibbling, nibbling like a mouse. 

Who’s nibbling at my little house? ” 


30 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


The children answered: 

“ The wind, the wind doth blow 
From heaven to earth below,” 

and went on eating. Hansel, who found the roof 
very good, broke off a large piece for himself; 
and Grettel pushed a whole round pane out of 
the window, and sat down on the ground to en- 
joy it. 

All at once the door opened and an old, old 
woman, supporting herself on a crutch, came 
hobbling out. Hansel and Grettel were so 
frightened that they dropped what they held in 
their hands. 

But the old woman only shook her head, and 
said: “ Ah, dear children, who brought you here? 
Come in and stay with me; you will come to no 
harm.” 

She took them by the hand and led them into 
the little house. A nice dinner was set before 
them, pancakes and sugar, milk, apples, and 
nuts. After this she showed them two little white 
beds into which they crept, and felt as if they 
were in Heaven. 

Although the old woman appeared to be so 
friendly, she was really a wicked old witch who 


31 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 

was on the watch for children, and she had built 
the bread house on purpose to lure them to her. 
Whenever she could get a child into her clutches 
she cooked it and ate it, and considered it a 
grand feast. Witches have red eyes, and can’t 
see very far, but they have keen scent like ani- 
mals, and can perceive the approach of human 
beings. 

When Hansel and Grettel came near her, she 
laughed wickedly to herself, and said scornfully : 
‘‘ Now I have them, they shan’t escape me.” 

She got up early in the morning, before the 
children were awake, and when she saw them 
sleeping, with their beautiful rosy cheeks, she 
murmured to herself: “They will be dainty 
morsels.” 

She seized Hansel with her bony hand and 
carried him off to a little stable, where she shut 
him up and barred the door; he might cry as 
loud as he liked, she took no notice of him. Then 
she went to Grettel and shook her till she woke, 
and cried: 

“ Get up, little lazy-bones, fetch some water 
and cook something nice for your brother; he is 
in the stable, and has to be fattened. When he 
is nice and fat, I will eat him.” 


32 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


Grettel began to cry bitterly, but it was no 
use, she had to obey the witch’s orders. The best 
food was now cooked for poor Hansel, but Gret- 
tel only had the shells of crayfish. . 

The old woman hobbled to the stable every 
morning, and cried; “ Hansel, put your finger 
out for me to feel how fat you are.” 

Hansel put out a knuckle-bone, and the old 
woman, whose eyes were dim, could not see, and 
thought it was his finger, and she was much as- 
tonished that he did not get fat. 

When four weeks had passed, and Hansel still 
kept thin, she became very impatient and would 
wait no longer. 

Now then, Grettel,” she cried, “ bustle along 
and fetch the water. Fat or thin, to-morrow I 
will kill Hansel and eat him.” 

Oh, how his poor little sister grieved. As she 
carried the water, the tears streamed down her 
cheeks. 

“Dear God, help us!” she cried. “If only 
the wild animals in the forest had devoured us, 
we should, at least, have died together.” 

“ You may spare your tears; they will do you 
no good,” said the old woman. 

Early in the morning Grettel had to go out to 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 33 

fill the kettle with water, and then she had to 
kindle a fire and hang the kettle over it. 

“ We will bake first,” said the old witch. ‘‘ I 
have heated the oven and kneaded the dough.” 

She pushed poor Grettel towards the oven, and 
said: “ Creep in and see if it is properly heated, 
and then we will put the bread in.” 

She meant, when Grettel had got in, to shut 
the door and roast her. 

But Grettel saw her plan, and said: “ I don’t 
know how to get in. How am I to do it? ” 

“Stupid goose!” cried the witch. “The 
oj)ening is big enough; you can see that I could 
get into it myself.” 

She hobbled up, and stuck her head into the 
oven. Grettel gave her a push which sent the 
witch right in, and then she banged the door and 
bolted it. 

“ Oh! oh! ” she began to howl horribly. But 
Grettel ran away and left the wicked witch. 

Grettel ran as fast as she could to the stable^. 
She opened the door, and cried : “ Hansel, we 
are saved. The old witch is dead.” 

Hansel sprang out, like a bird out of a cage 
when the door is opened. How delighted they 
were. They fell upon each other’s necks. 


34 HANSEL AND GRETTEL 

and kissed each other, and danced about for 

joy- 

As they had nothing more to fear, they went 
into the witch’s house, and they found chests in 
every corner full of pearls and precious stones. 

“ These are better than pebbles,” said Hanseh 
as he filled his pockets. 

Grettel said: “ I must take something home 
with me too.” And she filled her apron. 

“ But now we must go,” said Hansel, “ so 
that we may get out of this enchanted wood.” 

Before they had gone very far, they came to 
a great piece of water. 

“ We can’t get across it,” said Hansel; I see 
no stepping-stones and no bridge.” 

‘‘ And there are no boats either,” answered 
Grettel. ‘‘ But there is a duck swimming, it will 
help us over if we ask it.” 

So she cried: 

“ Little duck, that cries quack, quack, 

Here Grettel and here Hansel stand. 

Quickly, take us on your back, 

No path nor bridge is there at hand! ” 

The duck came swimming towards them, and 
Hansel got on its back, and told his sister to sit 
on his knee. 


HANSEL AND GRETTEL 


35 


‘‘ No,” answered Grettel, “ it will be too heavy 
for the duck; it must take us over one after the 
other.” 

The good creature did this, and when they had 
got safely over and walked for a while, the wood 
seemed to grow more and more familiar to them, 
and at last they saw their father’s cottage in the 
distance. They began to run, and rushed inside, 
where they threw their arms around their father’s 
neck. The man had not had a single happy mo- 
ment since he had deserted his children in the 
wood, and in the meantime his wife had died. 

Grettel shook her apron and scattered the 
pearls and precious stones all over the floor, and 
Hansel added handful after handful out of his 
pockets. 

So all their troubles came to an end, and they 
lived together as happily as possible. 


SLEEPING BEAUTY 
LONG time ago there lived a king and 



queen, who said every day, “ If only we 
had a child but for a long time they had none. 

It fell out once, as the Queen was bathing, that 
a frog crept out of the water onto the land, and 
said to her: “You shall have your wish; before a 
year has passed you shall bring a daughter into 
the world.’’ 

The frog’s words came true. The Queen had 
a little girl who was so beautiful that the King 
could not contain himself for joy, and prepared 
a great feast. He invited not only his relations, 
friends, and acquaintances, but the fairies, in 
order that they might be favorably and kindly 
disposed towards the child. There were thirteen 
of them in the kingdom, but as the King had 
only tAvelve golden plates for them to eat from, 
one of the fairies had to stay at home. 

The feast was held with all splendor, and when 
it came to an end the fairies all presented the 
child with a magic gift. One gave her virtue, 




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SLEEPING BEAUTY^ S7 

another beauty, a third riches, and so on, with 
everything in the world that she could wish for. 

When eleven of the fairies had said their say, 
the thirteenth suddenly appeared. She wanted 
to revenge herself for not having been invited. 
Without greeting any one, or even glancing at 
the company, she called out in a loud voice: 
“ The Princess shall prick herself with a distaff 
in her fifteenth year and shall fall down dead ” ; 
and without another word she turned and left the 
hall. 

Every one was terror-struck, but the twelfth 
fairy, whose wish was still unspoken, stepped 
forward. She could not cancel the curse, hut 
could only soften it, so she said: “ It shall not be 
death, but a deep sleep lasting a hundred years, 
into which your daughter shall fall.’’ 

The King was so anxious to guard his dear 
child from the misfortune, that he sent out a 
command that all the distaffs in the whole king- 
dom should be burned. 

As time went on all the promises of the fairies 
came true. The Princess grew up so beautiful, 
modest, kind, and clever that every one who saw 
her loved her. Now it happened that on the very 
day when she was fifteen years old the King and 


38 SLEEPING BEAUTY 

Queen were away from home, and the Princess 
was left quite alone in the castle. She wandered 
about over the whole place, looking at rooms and 
halls as she pleased, and at last she came to an 
old tower. She climbed a narrow, winding stair- 
case and reached a little door. A rusty key was 
sticking in the lock, and when she turned it the 
door flew open. In a little room sat an old 
woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily. 

“ Good day. Granny,” said the Princess ; 
“ what are you doing? ” 

“ I am spinning,” said the old woman, and 
nodded her head. 

“ What is the thing that whirls around so 
merrily?” asked the Princess; and she took the 
spindle and tried to spin too. 

But she had scarcely touched it before the 
curse was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger 
with the spindle. The instant she felt the prick 
she fell upon the bed which was standing near, 
and lay still in a deep sleep which spread over 
the whole castle. 

The King and Queen, who had just come home 
and had stepped into the hall, went to sleep, and 
all their courtiers with them. The horses went 
to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the 


39 


SLEEPING BEAUTY 

doves on the roof, the flies on the wall; yes, even 
the fire flickering on the hearth grew still and 
went to sleep, and the roast meat stopped crack- 
ling; the cook, who was pulling the scullion’s hair 
because he had made some mistake, let him go 
and went to sleep. The wind dropped, and on 
the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred. 

But round the castle a hedge of briar roses 
began to grow up ; every year it grew higher, till 
at last it surrounded the whole castle so that 
nothing could be seen of it, not even the flags on 
the roof. 

But there was a legend in the land about the 
lovely sleeping Briar Bose, as the King’s daugh- 
ter was called, and from time to time princes 
came and tried to force a way through the hedge 
into the castle. They found it impossible, for the 
thorns, as though they had hands, held them fast, 
and the princes remained caught in them without 
being able to free themselves, and so died a mis- 
erable death. 

After many, many years a prince came again 
to the country and heard an old man tell of the 
castle which stood behind the briar hedge, in 
which a most beautiful maiden called Briar Rose 
had been asleep for the last hundred years, and 


40 


SLEEPING BEAUTY 


with her slept the King, Queen, and all her 
courtiers. He knew also, from his grandfather, 
that many princes had already come and sought 
to pierce through the briar hedge, and had re- 
mained caught in it and died a sad death. 

Then the young prince said, “ I am not afraid; 
I am determined to go and look upon the lovely 
Briar Rose,” 

The good old man tried to make him change 
his mind, but the Prince would not listen to his 
words. 

Now, however, the hundred years were just 
ended, and the day had come when Briar Rose 
was to wake up again. When the Prince came 
to the briar hedge it was in blossom, and was 
covered with beautiful large flowers which made 
way for him of their own accord and let him pass 
unharmed, and then closed up again into a hedge 
behind him. 

In the courtyard he saw the horses and dogs 
lying asleep, on the roof sat the doves with their 
heads under their wings: and when he went into 
the house the flies were asleep on the walls, and 
near the throne lay the King and Queen; in the 
kitchen was the cook, with his hand raised as 
though about to strike the scullion, and the maid 


SLEEPING BEAUTY 


41 


sat with the black fowl in her lap which she was 
about to pluck. 

He went on further, and all was so still that 
he could hear his own breathing. At last he 
reached the tower, and opened the door into the 
little room where Briar Rose was asleep. There 
she lay, looking so beautiful that he could not 
take his eyes off her; he bent down and gave her 
a kiss. As he touched her Briar Rose opened 
her eyes and looked lovingly at him. Then they 
went down together; and the King woke up, and 
the Queen, and all the courtiers, and looked at 
each other with astonished eyes. The horses in 
the stable stood up and shook themselves, the 
dogs leaped about and wagged their tails, the 
doves on the roof lifted their heads from under 
their wings, looked around, and flew into the 
fields; the flies on the walls began to crawl again, 
the fire in the kitchen roused itself and blazed up 
and cooked the food, the meat began to crackle, 
and the cook boxed the scullion’s ears so soundly 
that he screamed aloud, while the maid finished 
plucking the fowl. Then the wedding of the 
Prince and Briar Rose was celebrated with all 
splendor, and they lived happily till they died. 


THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER 


HERE was once a shoemaker who, through 



no fault of his own, had become so poor 
that at last he had only leather enough left for 
one pair of shoes. At evening he cut out the 
shoes which he intended to begin upon the next 
morning, and since he had a good conscience, he 
lay down quietly, said his prayers, and fell 
asleep. 

In the morning when he had said his prayers, 
and was preparing to sit down to work, he found 
the pair of shoes standing finished on his table. 
He was amazed, and could not understand it in 
the least. 

He took the shoes in his hand to examine them 
more closely. They were so neatly sewn that not 
a stitch was out of place, and were as good as the 
work of a master-hand. 

Soon after a purchaser came in, and as he was 
much pleased with the shoes, he paid more than 
the usual price for them, so that the shoemaker 



With Their Tiny Fingers They Began to Stitch 





ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER 43 

was able to buy leather for two pairs of shoes 
with the money. 

He cut them out in the evening, and next day, 
with fresh courage, was about to go to work; but 
he had no need to, for when he got up, the 
shoes were finished, and buyers were not 
lacking. These gave him so much money that 
he was able to buy leather for four pairs of 
shoes. 

Early next morning he found the four pairs 
finished, and so it went on; what he cut out at 
evening was finished in the morning, so that he 
was soon again in comfortable circumstances, 
and became a well-to-do man. 

Now it happened one evening, not long before 
Christmas, when he had cut out some shoes as 
usual, that he said to his wife: “ How would it 
be if we were to sit up to-night to see who it is 
that lends us such a helping hand? ” 

The wife agreed, lighted a candle, and they 
hid themselves in the corner of the room behind 
the clothes which were hanging there. 

At midnight came two little naked men who 
sat down at the shoemaker’s table, took up the 
cut-out work, and began with their tiny fingers 
to stitch, sew, and hammer so neatly and quickly 


44 ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER 


that the shoemaker could not believe his eyes. 
They did not stop till everything was quite 
finished, and stood complete on the table; then 
they ran swiftly away. 

The next day the wife said: “ The little men 
have made us rich, and we ought to show our 
gratitude. They were running about with noth- 
ing on, and must freeze with cold. Now I will 
make them little shirts, coats, waistcoats, and 
hose, and will even knit them a pair of stockings, 
and you shall make them each a pair of shoes.’’ 

The husband agreed, and at evening, when 
they had everything ready, they laid out the pres- 
ents on the table, and hid themselves to see how 
the little men would behave. 

At midnight they came skipping in, and were 
about to set to work; but, instead of the leather 
ready cut out, they found the charming little 
clothes. 

At first they were surprised, then very much 
delighted. With the greatest speed they put on 
and smoothed down the pretty clothes, singing: 

“ Now we’re boys so fine and neat. 

Why cobble more for other’s feet? ” 

Then they hopped and danced about, and 


ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER 45 


leapt over chairs and tables and out at the door. 
Henceforward, they came back no more, but the 
shoemaker fared well,^ and had good luck in 
every thing he did. 


THE BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 


CERTAIN man had an ass which for 



many years carried sacks to the mill with- 
out tiring. At last, however, its strength was 
worn out; it was no longer of any use for work. 
So its master began to consider how he could cut 
down its keep ; but the ass, seeing there was mis- 
chief in the air, ran away and started on the road 
to Bremen; there he thought he could become a 
town-musician. 

When he had been traveling a short time, he 
fell in with a dog, who was lying panting on the 
road as though he had run himself off his legs. 

“Well, what are you panting so for, Growl- 
er? ” said the ass. 

“ Ah,” said the dog, “ just because I am old, 
and every day I get weaker, and also because I 
can no longer keep up with the pack, my master 
wanted to kill me, so I ran away. But now, how 
am I to earn my bread? ” 

“ Well,” said the ass, “ I am going to Bremen, 
and shall there become a town-musician; come 
with me and take your part in the music. I shall 


BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 47 

play the lute, and you shall beat the kettle- 
drum.” 

The dog agreed, and they went on. 

A short time after they came upon a cat, sit- 
ting in the road, with a face as long as a wet 
week. 

“ Well, what has been crossing you, Whisk- 
ers? ” asked the ass. 

“ Who can be cheerful when he is out at el- 
bows? ” said the cat. “ I am getting on in years, 
and my teeth are blunted and I prefer to sit by 
the stove and purr instead of hunting round after 
mice. Just because of this my mistress wanted 
to drown me. I made myself scarce, but now I 
don’t know where to turn.” 

“ Come with us to Bremen,” said the ass. 
“ You are a great hand at serenading, so you can 
become a town-musician.” 

The cat consented, and joined them. 

Next the travelers passed by a yard where a 
barn-door fowl was sitting on the door, crowing 
with all its might. 

“ You crow so loud you pierce one through 
and through,” said the ass. “ What is the mat- 
ter? ” 

“Why! didn’t I prophesy fine weather for 


48 BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 

Lady Day, when Our Lady washes the Christ 
Child’s little garment and wants to dry it? But, 
notwithstanding this, because Sunday visitors 
are coming to-morrow, the mistress has no pity, 
and she has ordered the cook to make me into 
soup, so I shall have my neck wrung to-night. 
Now I am crowing with all my might while I 
have the chance.” 

“ Come along. Red-comb,” said the ass; “ you 
had much better come with us. We are going to 
Bremen, and you will find a much better fate 
there. You have a good voice, and when we 
make music together, there will be quality in it.” 

The cock allowed himself to be persuaded, and 
they all four went off together. They could not, 
however, reach the town in one day, and by even- 
ing they arrived at a wood, where they deter- 
mined to spend the night. The ass and the dog 
lay down under a big tree; the cat and the cock 
settled themselves in the branches, the cock flying 
right up to the top, which was the safest place 
for him. Before going to sleep he looked round 
once more in every direction; suddenly it seemed 
to him that he saw a light burning in the distance. 
He called out to his comrades that there must be 
a house not far off, for he saw a light. 


BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 49 

“ Very well/’ said the ass, “ let us set out and 
make our way to it, for the entertainment here 
is very bad.” 

The hound thought some bones or meat would 
suit him too, so they set out in the direction of 
the light, and soon saw it shining more clearly, 
and getting bigger and bigger, till they reached 
a brightly-lighted robbers’ den. The ass, being 
the tallest, went to the window and looked in. 

“What do you see, old Jackass?” asked the 
cock. 

“ What do I see? ” answered the ass; “ why, a 
table spread with delicious food and drink, and 
robbers seated at it enjoying themselves.” 

“ That would just suit us,” said the cock. 

“Yes; if we were only there,” answered the 
ass. 

Then the animals took counsel as to how to set 
about driving the robbers out. At last they hit 
upon a plan. 

The ass was to take up his position with his 
forefeet on the window-sill, the dog was to jump 
on his back, the cat to climb up onto the dog, and 
last of all the cock to fly up and perch on the 
cat’s head. When they were thus arranged, at a 
given signal they all began their music; the ass 


50 BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 

brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the 
cock crowed; then they dashed through the win- 
dow, breaking the panes. The robbers jumped 
up at the terrible noise; they thought that a 
demon was coming upon them, and fled into the 
wood in the greatest alarm. Then the four ani- 
mals sat down to the table, and helped them- 
selves according to their taste, and ate as though 
they had been starving for weeks. When they 
had finished they put out the light, and looked 
for sleeping places, each' one to suit his nature 
and taste. 

The ass lay down on a pile of straw, the dog 
behind the door, the cat on the hearth near the 
warm ashes, and the cock flew up to the rafters. 
As they were tired from the long journey, they 
soon went to sleep. 

When midnight was past, and the robbers saw 
from a distance that the light was no longer 
burning, and that all seemed quiet, the chief said: 

“We ought not to have been scared by a false 
alarm,” and ordered one of the robbers to go and 
look at the house. 

Finding all quiet, the robber went into the 
kitchen to kindle a light, and taking the cat’s 
glowing, fiery eyes for live coals, he held a match 


BREMEN TOWN-MUSICIANS 51 


close to them so as to light it. But the cat would 
stand no nonsense; it flew at his face, spat and 
scratched. The robber was terribly frightened 
and ran away. 

He tried to get out by the back door, but the 
dog, who was lying there, jumped up and bit his 
leg. As he ran across the pile of straw in front 
of the house, the ass gave him a good sound kick 
with his hind legs, while the cock, who had awak- 
ened at the uproar quite fresh and gay, cried out 
from his perch: “ Cock-a-doodle-doo.” There- 
upon the robber ran back as fast as he could to 
his chief, and said: “ There is a horrid witch in 
the house, who breathed on me and scratched me 
with her long fingers. Behind the door there 
stands a man with a knife, who stabbed me; while 
in the yard lies a black monster, who hit me with 
a club; and upon the roof the judge is seated, 
and he called out, ‘ Bring the rogue here,’ so I 
hurried away as fast as I could.” 

After that the robbers did not venture again 
to the house, which, however, pleased the four 
Bremen musicians so much that they never 
wished to leave it again. 


THE TABLE, THE ASS, AND THE 
STICK 


HERE was once a tailor, who had three 



sons and one goat. And the goat, as she fed 
them all with her milk, was obliged to have good 
food, and so she was led every day down to the 
willows by the waterside; and this the sons did 
in turn. One day the eldest took the goat to the 
churchyard, where the best sprouts are, that she 
might eat her fill, and gambol about. 

In the evening, when it was time to go home, 
he said: 

“ Well, goat, have you had enough? ” 

The goat answered: 


I am so full, 

I cannot pull 

Another blade of grass — ba ! baa ! ” 


“ Then come home,” said the young fellow, 
and tied a rope to her, led her to her stall, and 
fastened her up. 

“ Now,” said the old tailor, “ has the goat had 
her proper food? ” 

“ Oh,” answered the son, “ she is so full, she 
no more can pull.” 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 53 

But the father, wishing to see for himself, went 
out to the stall, stroked his dear goat, and said: 

“ My dear goat, are you full? ” And the goat 
answered; 

“ How can I be full? 

There was nothing to pull. 

Though I looked all about me — 
ba! baa!” 

“ What is this that I hear? ’’ cried the tailor, 
and he ran and called out to his son: 

“ You said that the goat was full, and she has 
been hungry all the time ! ” And in his wrath 
he took up his yard-measure and drove his son 
out of the house with many blows. 

The next day came the turn of the second son, 
and he found a fine place in the garden hedge, 
where there were good green sx^routs, and the 
goat ate them all up. In the evening, when he 
came to lead her home, he said : 

“ Well, goat, have you had enough? ” And 
the goat answered: 

‘‘ I am so full, 

I could not pull 

Another blade of grass — ba ! baa ! ” 

Then come home,” said the young fellow, and 
led her home, and tied her up. 


54 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

“ Now,” said the old tailor, “ has the goat had 
her proper food? ” 

‘‘ Oh,” answered the son, “ she is so full, she 
no more can pull.” 

The tailor, not feeling satisfied, went out to the 
stall, and said: 

“ My dear goat, are you really full? ” And 
the goat answered: 

“ How can I be full? 

There was nothing to pull, 

Though I looked all about hie — 
ba! baa!” 

‘‘ The good-for-nothing rascal,” cried the 
tailor, “to let the dear creature go fasting!” 
and, running back, he chased the youth with his 
yard-measure out of the house. 

Then came the turn of the third son, who, 
meaning to make sure that the goat had plenty 
to eat, found some shrubs with the finest sprouts 
possible, and left the goat to devour them. In 
the evening, when he came to lead her home, he 
said: 

“ Well, goat, are you full? ” And the goat 
answered: 

“ I am so full, 

I could not pull 

Another blade of grass — ba ! baa! ” 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 55 

“ Then come home,” said the young fellow, 
and he took her to her stall, and fastened her ui^. 

“ Now,” said the old tailor, has the goat had 
her proper food? ” 

‘‘ Oh,” answered the son, ‘‘ she is so full, she 
no more can pull.” 

But the tailor, not trusting his word, went to 
the goat and said : 

“ My dear goat, are you really full? ” The 
spiteful animal answered: 

‘‘ How can I be full ? 

There was nothing to pull. 

Though I looked all about me — 
ba ! baa ! ” 

“ Oh, the wretches ! ” cried the tailor. ‘‘ The 
one as good-for-nothing and careless as the other. 
I will no longer have such fools about me;” and 
rushing back, in his wrath he laid about him with 
his yard-measure, and beat his son’s back so un- 
mercifully that he ran away out of the house. 

So the old tailor was left alone with the goat. 
The next day he went out to the stall, and let 
out. the goat, saying: 

“ Come, my dear creature, I will take you my- 
self to the willows.” 


56 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

So he led her by the string, and brought her 
to the green hedges and pastures where there 
was plenty of food to her taste, and saying to 
her: 

“ Now, for once, you can eat to your heart’s 
content,” he left her there till the evening. Then 
he returned, and said: 

“ Well, goat, are you full? ” 

She answered: 

‘‘ I am so full, 

I could not pull 

Another blade of grass — ba I baa ! ” 

“ Then come home,” said the tailor, and lead- 
ing her to her stall, he fastened her up. 

Before he left her he turned once more, saying: 

“ Now then, for once you are full.” But the 
goat actually cried: 

“ How can I be full? 

There was nothing to pull, 

Though I looked all about me — 
ba ! baa ! ” 

When the tailor heard that he was astonished, 
and saw at once that his three sons had been sent 
away without reason. 

“ Wait a minute,” cried he, “ you ungrateful 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 57 

creature! It is not enough merely to drive you 
away — I will teach you to show your face again 
among honorable tailors.” 

So in haste he went and fetched his razor, and 
seizing the goat he shaved her head as smooth as 
the palm of his hand. And as the yard-measure 
was too honorable a weapon, he took the whip 
and fetched her such a crack that with many a 
jump and spring she ran away. 

The tailor felt very sad as he sat alone in his 
house, and would willingly have had his sons back 
again, but no one knew where they had gone, so 
he could not send for them. 

The eldest son, when he was driven from home, 
went to work for a carpenter, and was so diligent 
that when the time came for him to travel his 
master gave him a little table, nothing much to 
look at, and made of common wood; but it had 
one great quality. When any one set it down 
and said, “Table, be covered!” all at once the 
good little table had a clean cloth on it, and a 
plate, and knife, and fork, and dishes with roast 
and boiled meats, and a large glass of red wine 
sparkling so as to cheer the heart. The young 
apprentice was delighted and he went merrily 
out into the world, and never cared whether an 


58 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

inn were good or bad, or whether he could get 
anything to eat there or not. When he was 
hungry, it did not matter where he was, whether 
in the fields, in the woods, or in a meadow, he set 
down his table and said, “Be covered!” and 
there he was provided with everything that heart 
could wish. At last he thought that he would go 
back to his father, who might not be so angry by 
this time, and who might perhaps receive him 
again gladly because of the wonderful table. It 
happened that one evening during his journey 
home he came to an inn that was quite full of 
guests, who bade him welcome, and asked him to 
sit down with them and eat, as otherwise he 
would have found some difficulty in getting any- 
thing. 

“ No,” answered the young carpenter, “ I 
could not think of depriving you ; you had much 
better be my guests.” 

Then they laughed, and thought he must be 
joking. But he brought his little wooden table, 
and put it in the middle of the room, and said, 
“Table, be covered!” Immediately it was set 
out with food much better than the landlord had 
been able to provide, and the good smell of it 
greeted the noses of the guests very agreeably. 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 59 

“ Fall to, good friends,” said the carpenter; and 
the g-uests, when they saw how it was, needed no 
second asking, but taking up knife and fork fell 
to with delight. And what seemed most wonder- 
ful was that when a dish was empty immediately 
a full one stood in its place. All the while the 
landlord stood in a corner, and watched all that 
went on. He thought “ such cooking as that 
would make my inn prosper.” The carpenter 
and his guests kept it up very merrily until late 
at night. At last they went to sleep, and the 
young carpenter going to bed, left his wishing- 
table standing against the wall. The landlord, 
however, could not sleep for thinking of the 
table, and he remembered that there was in his 
lumber room an old table very like it, so he 
brought it, and taking away the carpenter’s table, 
he left the other in its place. The next morning 
the carpenter paid his bill, took up the table, not 
dreaming that he was carrying off the wrong one, 
and went on his way. About noon he reached 
home, and his father received him with great joy. 

“ Now, my dear son, what have you learned? ” 
he asked. 

I have learned to be a carpenter, father,” he 
answered. 


60 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

“ That is a good trade,” returned the father; 
“ but what have you brought back with you from 
your travels? ” 

“ The best thing I’ve got, father, is this little 
table,” said he. 

The tailor looked at it on all sides, and said : 

“ That is certainly not very remarkable. It is 
a shabby old table.” 

“ But it is a very wonderful one,” answered 
the son. ‘‘ When I set it down, and tell it to be 
covered, at once the finest meats are standing on 
it, and wine so good that it cheers the heart. Let 
us invite all the friends and neighbors, that they 
may feast and enjoy themselves, for the table will 
provide enough for all.” 

When the guests had arrived, he put his table 
in the middle of the room, and said, “ Table, be 
covered!” 

But the table never stirred, and remained just 
as empty as any other table that does not under- 
stand talking. 

When the poor carpenter saw that the table 
remained empty, he felt ashamed to stand there 
like a fool. The company laughed at him freely, 
and were obliged to return unfed to their houses. 
The father returned to his tailoring, and the 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 61 

son went to work under another master car- 
penter. 

The second son had found a position with a 
miller. And when he was leaving, his master 
said to him: 

“ As you have behaved yourself so well, I will 
give you an ass of a remarkable kind: he will 
pull no cart, and carry no sack.” 

“ What is the use of him then? ” asked the 
young miller. 

‘‘ He spits out gold,” was the answer. ‘‘ If 
you put a cloth before him and say, ‘ Bricklebrit,’ 
out come gold pieces.” 

“ That is a capital thing,” said the young mil- 
ler, and, thanking his master, he went out into 
the world. Whenever he wanted gold he had 
only to say, “ Bricklebrit ” to his ass, and there 
was a shower of gold pieces, and so he had no 
cares as he traveled about. Wherever he came 
he lived on the best, as his purse was always full. 
And when he had been looking about the world 
a long time, he thought he would go and find his 
father, who would perhaps forget his anger and 
receive him kindly because of his gold ass. And 
it happened that he came to the same inn where 
his brother’s table had been exchanged. He was 


62 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

leading the ass by the hand, and the landlord 
offered to take the ass from him to tie it up, but 
the young aj^prentice said: 

“ Don’t trouble yourself, I will take him into 
the stable myself and tie him up, and then I 
shall know where to find him.” 

The landlord thought this was very strange, 
and he did not suppose that a man who was ac- 
customed to look after his ass himself could have 
much to spend; but when the stranger, feeling in 
his pocket, took out two gold pieces and told him 
to get him something good for supj)er, the land- 
lord stared, and ran and fetched the best that 
could be got. After supper the guest asked for 
the bill, and the landlord, wanting to get all the 
profit he could, said that it would amount to 
two gold pieces more. The miller felt in his 
pocket, but his gold had come to an end. 

‘‘ Wait a moment, landlord,” said he, “ I will 
go and get some money,” and he went out of the 
room, carrying the table-cloth with him. The 
landlord could not tell what to make of it, and, 
curious to know what he would do, slipped after 
him, and as the guest shut the stable-door, he 
peeped in through a knot-hole. Then he saw 
the stranger spread the cloth before the ass, say- 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 63 

ing, “ Bricklebrit,” and at once the ass si^at out 
gold, which rained upon the ground. 

“ Dear me,” said the landlord, “ that is an easy 
way of getting money.” 

After that the guest paid his bill and went to 
bed ; but the landlord slipped down to the stable 
in the middle of the night, led the gold-ass away, 
and tied up another ass in his place. The next 
morning early the miller set forth with his ass, 
never doubting that it was the right one. By 
noon he came to his father’s house, who was de- 
lighted to see him again, and received him gladly. 

“ What trade have you taken up, my son? ” 
asked the father. 

“ I am a miller, dear father,” answered he. 

“ What have you brought home from your 
travels? ” continued the father. 

“ Nothing but an ass,” answered the son. 

'‘We have plenty of asses here,” said the fa- 
ther. “ You had much better have brought me 
a nice goat! ” 

" Yes,” answered the son, " but this is no com- 
mon ass. When I say, ' Bricklebrit,’ the good 
creature spits out a whole clothful of gold pieces. 
Let me call all the neighbors together. I will 
make rich people of them all.” 


64 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

“ That will be fine! ” said the tailor. “ Then 
I need labor no more at inj^ needle ; ” and he 
rushed out himself and called the neighbors to- 
gether. As soon as they were all assembled, the 
miller called out to them to make room, and 
brought in the ass, and spread his cloth before 
him. 

“ Now, pay attention,” said he, and cried, 
“ Bricklebrit! ” but no gold pieces came. 

The poor miller made a long face when he 
saw that he had been taken in, and begged par- 
don of the neighbors, who all went home as poor 
as they had come. And so the old man had to 
take to his needle again, and the young one had 
to work for a miller. 

The third brother had taken a position with a 
turner, and it took him a long time to learn the 
trade. His brother told him in a letter how 
badly things had gone with them, and how on 
the last night of their travels the landlord had 
stolen their treasures. When the young turner 
had learned his trade, and was ready to travel, 
his master, to reward him for his good conduct, 
gave him a sack, and told him that there was a 
stick inside it. 

“ I can hang up the sack, and it may be very 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 65 

useful to me,” said the young man. “ But what 
is the good of the stiek? ” 

“ I will tell you,” answered the master. “ If 
any one does you any harm, and you say, ‘ Stick, 
out of the sack!’ the stick will jump out upon 
them, and will beat them so soundly that they 
will not be able to move or to leave the place for 
a week, and it will not stop until you say, ‘ Stick, 
into the sack! ’ ” 

The young man thanked him, and took up the 
sack and started on his travels, and when anj^ one 
attacked him he would say, “ Stick, out of the 
sack!” and immediately the stick would jump 
out, and deal a shower of blows, which would 
quickly end the affair. One evening the young 
turner reached the inn where his two brothers 
had been taken in. He laid his knapsack on the 
table, and began to describe all the wonderful 
things he had seen in the world. 

“Yes,” said he, “you may talk of your self- 
spreading table, gold-supplying ass, and so 
forth; very good things, I do not deny, but they 
are nothing compared with the treasure that I 
carry with me in that sack ! ” 

Then the landlord opened his ears. 

“What in the world can it be?” thought he. 


66 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

“ Very likely the sack is full of i)recious stones; 
and I have a perfect right to it, for all good 
things come in threes.” 

When bedtime came the guest stretched him- 
self on a bench, and put his sack under his head 
for a pillow, and the landlord, when he thought 
the young man was sound asleep, came, and, 
stooping down, pulled gently at the sack, so as 
to remove it cautiously, and put another in its 
place. The turner had only been waiting for 
this to hap]3en, and just as the landlord was 
giving a last pull, he cried, ‘‘ Stick, out of the 
sack! ” Out flew the stick at once, and began to 
beat the landlord’s back; and in vain he begged 
for mercy; the louder he cried the harder the 
stick beat time on his back, until he fell exhausted 
to the ground. Then the turner said: 

“ If you do not give me the table and the ass 
immediately, this game shall begin all over 
again.” 

‘'Oh dear, no!” cried the landlord; “I will 
gladly give them back again if you will only 
make this terrible goblin go back into the sack.” 

Then the young man said, “ Stick, into the 
sack! ” and the stick left the landlord in peace. 

The next morning the turner set out with the 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 67 

table and the ass on his way home to his father. 
The tailor was very glad, indeed, to see him 
again, and asked him what he had learned 
abroad. 

'' My dear father,” answered he, “ I have be- 
come a turner.” i 

“ A very fine craft,” said the father. “ And 
what have you brought back with you from your 
travels? ” 

“ A very valuable thing, dear father,” an- 
swered the son. “A stick in a sack! ” 

“What!” cried the father. “A stick! The 
thing is not worth so much trouble when you can 
cut one from any tree.” 

“ But it is not a common stick, dear father,” 
said the young man. “ When I say, ‘ Stick, out 
of the bag! ’ out jumps the stick upon any one 
who means harm to me, and makes him dance, 
and does not leave off till he asks pardon. Just 
look here, with this stick I have made the land- 
lord return the table and the ass that he stole 
from my two brothers. Now, let them both be 
sent for, and bid all the neighbors too, and they 
shall eat and' drink to their hearts’ content, and 
I will fill their pockets with gold.” 

The old tailor could not quite believe in such 


68 THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 

a thing, but he called his sons and all the neigh- 
bors together. Then the turner brought in the 
ass, spread a cloth before him, and said to his 
brother: 

“ Now, my dear brother, speak to him.” And 
the miller said, “ Bricklebrit! ” and immediately 
the cloth was covered with gold pieces, until they 
all had more than they could carry away. Then 
the turner set down the table, and said: 

“ Now, my dear brother, speak to it.” And 
the carpenter said, “ Table, be covered! ” and im- 
mediately it was covered with the richest dishes. 
Then they held a feast such as had never taken 
place in the tailor’s house before, and the whole 
company remained through the night, merry and 
content. 

After that the tailor locked up in a cupboard 
his needle and thread, his yard-measure and 
goose, and lived ever after with his three sons in 
great joy and splendor. 

But what became of the goat, the unlucky 
cause of the tailor’s sons being driven out? I 
will tell you. She felt so ashamed of her bald 
head that she ran into a fox’s hole and hid her- 
self. When the fox came home he caught sight 
of two great eyes staring at him out of the dark- 


THE TABLE, ASS, AND STICK 69 

ness, and was very frightened and ran away. A 
bear met him, and seeing that he looked very 
disturbed, asked him: 

“ What is the matter, brother fox, that you 
should look like that? ” 

‘‘ Oh dear,” answered the fox, “ an ugly beast 
is sitting in my hole, and he stared at me with 
fiery eyes ! ” 

“We will soon drive him out,” said the bear; 
and went to the hole and looked in, but when he 
caught sight of the fiery eyes he likewise felt 
great terror seize him, and not wishing to have 
anything to do with so ugly a beast, he made off. 
He soon met a bee, who said to him: 

“ Bear, what’s the matter? ” 

“ You may well ask,” answered the bear. “ In 
the fox’s hole there sits an ugly beast with fiery 
eyes, and we cannot drive him out.” 

The bee answered, “ I know you despise me, 
bear. I am a poor feeble little creature, but I 
think I can help you.” 

So she flew into the fox’s hole, and settling on 
the goat’s smooth-shaven head, stung her so se- 
verely that she jumped up, crying, “ Ba-baa ! ” 
and ran out like mad into the world; and to this 
hour no one knows where she ran to. 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 


HERE was once a fisherman, who lived 



with his wife in a miserable little hut close 
to the sea. He went to fish every day, and he 
fished and fished, and at last one day, as he was 
sitting looking deep down into the shining water, 
he felt something on his line. When he hauled 
it up there was a big flounder on the end of the 
line. The flounder said to him, “ Listen, fisher- 
man, I beg you not to kill me: I am no common 
flounder, I am an enchanted prince! What good 
will it do you to kill me? I shan’t be good to 
eat ; put me back into the water, and leave me to 
swim about.” 

“ Ho! ho! ” said the fisherman, “ you need not 
make so many words about it. I am quite ready 
to put back a flounder that can talk.” And so 
saying, he put back the flounder into the shining 
water, and it sank down to the bottom, leaving a 
streak of blood behind it. 

Then the fisherman got up and went back to 
his wife in the hut. ‘‘ Husband,” she said, 
“ haven’t you caught anything to-day? ” 


TBT.Tv-. 







The Flounder Came Swimming Up 



THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 71 

‘"No,” said the man; “all I caught was one 
flounder and he said he was an enchanted prince, 
so I let him go again.” 

“ Didn’t you wish for anything then? ” asked 
the good wife. 

“ No,” said the man; “ what was there to wish 
for? ” 

“Alas!” said his wife, “isn’t it bad enough 
always to live in this wretched hut! You might 
at least have wished for a nice clean cottage. 
Go back and call him, tell him I want a pretty 
cottage : he will surely give us that.” 

“ Alas ! ” said the man, “ what am I to go back 
there for? ” 

“ Well,” said the woman, “ you caught him 
and let him go again; certainly he will do that 
for you. Be off now ! ” 

The man was still not very willing to go, but 
he did not want to vex his wife, and at last he 
went back to the sea. 

He found the sea no longer bright and shin- 
ing, but dull and green. He stood by it and 
said: 

‘‘ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me: 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 


72 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 

The flounder came swimming up, and said, 
“ Well, what do you want? ” 

“ Alas! ’’ said the man, “ I had to call you, for 
my wife said I ought to have wished for some- 
thing when I caught you. She doesn’t want to 
live in our miserable hut any longer, she wants a 
pretty cottage.” 

“ Go home again then,” said the flounder, 
‘‘ she has her wish fully.” 

The man went home and found his wife no 
longer in the old hut ; a pretty little cottage stood 
in its place, and his wife was sitting on a bench 
by the door. 

She took him by the hand, and said, “ Come 
and look in here — isn’t this much better? ” 

They went inside and found a pretty sitting- 
room, and a bedroom with a bed in it, a kitchen 
and a larder furnished with everything of the 
best. Outside there was a little yard with chick- 
ens and ducks, and a little garden full of vege- 
tables and fruit. 

“ Look! ” said the woman, “ isn’t this nice? ” 

“ Yes,” said the man. “We can live here very 
happily.” 

“We will see about that,” said the woman. 
With that they ate something and went to bed. 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 73 


Everything went well for a week or more, and 
then the wife said, “ Husband, this cottage is 
too cramped, and the garden is too small. The 
flounder could have given us a bigger house. I 
want to live in a big stone castle. Go to the 
flounder, and tell him to give us a castle.” 

“ Wife,” said the man, “ the cottage is good 
enough for us: what should we do with a castle? ” 

“ Never mind,” said his wife, “ you go to the 
flounder, and he will manage it.” 

“ No,” said the man, “ the flounder gave us 
the cottage. I don’t want to go back; as likely 
as not he’ll be angry.” 

“ Go, all the same,” said the woman. He 
can do it easily enough, and willingly into the 
bargain. Just go ! ” 

The man’s heart was heavy, and he was very 
unwilling to go. He said to himself, “ It’s not 
right.” But at last he went. 

He found the sea was no longer green; it was 
still calm, but dark violet and gray. He stood 
by it and said: 

“ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me; 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 


74 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 

“ Now, what do you want? ” said the flounder^ 
“ Alas,” said the man, half scared, “ iny wife 
wants a big stone castle,” 

“ Go home again,” said the flounder, “ she is 
standing at the door of it,” 

Then the man went away thinking he would 
find no house, but when he got back he found a 
great stone palace, and his wife standing at the 
top of the steps, waiting to go in. 

She took him by the hand and said, “ Come in 
with me,” 

With that they went in and found a great 
hall, and numbers of servants in attendance, who 
opened the great doors for them. The walls were 
hung with beautiful tapestries, and the rooms 
were furnished with golden chairs and tables, 
while rich carpets covered the floors. On the 
tables were every kind of delicate food and the 
most costly wines. Outside the house there was 
a great courtyard, with stables for horses, and 
cows, and many fine carriages. Beyond this 
there was a great garden filled with the loveliest 
flowers, and fine fruit-trees. There was also a 
park, half a mile long, and in it were deer, and 
rabbits, and every kind of animal one could wish 
for. 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 75 


“ Now,” said the woman, “ is not this worth 
having? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” said the man. “ We will live in 
this beautiful palace and be content.” 

“ We will think about that,” said his wife, 
“ and sleep upon it.” 

With that they went to bed. 

Next morning the wife woke up first; day was 
just dawning, and from her bed she could see 
the beautiful country around her. Her husband 
was still asleep, but she pushed him with her el- 
bow, and said, “ Husband, get up and peep out 
of the window. See here, now, could we not be 
King over all this land? Go to the flounder. 
We will be King.” 

Alas, wife,” said the man, “ wHy should we 
be King? I don’t want to be King.” 

Ah,” said his wife, “ if you will not be King, 
I will. Go to the flounder. I will be King.” 

“ Alas, wife,” said the man, “ why do you want 
to be King? I don’t like to tell him.” 

“Why not?” said the woman. “Go to the 
flounder. I will be King.” 

So the man went, although he did not want his 
wife to be King. 

When he reached the sea, he found it dark. 


76 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 

gray, and stormy, and evil smelling. He stood 
there and said: 

‘‘ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me: 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will. 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 

“ Now, what does she want? ’’ said the 
flounder. 

“ Alas,” said the man, “ she wants to be King 
now.” 

“ Go baek. She is King already,” said the 
flounder. 

So the man went back, and when he reached 
the palace he found that it had grown much 
larger, and a great tower had been added with 
handsome decorations. There was a sentry at the 
door, and numbers of soldiers were beating 
drums and blowing trumpets. As soon as he got 
inside the house, he found everything was marble 
and gold ; and the hangings were of velvet, with 
great golden tassels. His wife was sitting on a 
throne of gold and diamonds ; she wore a golden 
crown, and carried in one hand a scepter of pure 
gold. On each side of her stood her ladies in a 
long row, every one a head shorter than the next. 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 77 

He stood before her, and said: “ Alas, wife, 
are you now King? ” 

“ Yes,” she said; “ now I am King.” 

He stood looking at her for some time, and 
then he said: “ Ah, wife, it is a fine thing for you 
to be King; now we will not wish to be anything 
more.” 

“ No, husband,” she answered, restlessly. 
“ Go back to the flounder. King I am, but I 
must also be Emperor.” 

“ Alas, wife,” said the man, ‘‘ why do you want 
to be Emperor? ” 

“ Husband,” she answered, “ go to the floun- 
der. Emperor I will be.” 

“ Alas, wife,” said the man, ‘‘ Emperor he 
can’t make you, and I won’t ask him. There 
is only one emperor in the country; and Em- 
peror the flounder cannot make you, that he 
can’t.” 

“ What? ” said the woman. “ I am King, and 
you are only my husband. To him you must go, 
and that right quickly. If he can make a king, he 
can also make an emperor. Emperor I will be, 
so go quickly.” 

He had to go, but he was quite frightened. 
And as he went, he thought, “ This won’t end 


78 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 

well; to be Emperor is asking too much. The 
flounder will make an end of the whole thing.” 

With that he came to the sea, but now he 
found it quite black, and heaving up from below 
in great waves. It tossed to and fro, and a sharp 
wind blew over it, and the man trembled. So 
he stood there, and said: 

“ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me: 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 

“ What does she want now? ” said the floun- 
der. 

“ Alas, flounder,” he said, “ my wife wants to 
be Emperor.” 

“ Go back,” said the flounder. “ She is Em- 
peror.” 

So the man went back, and when he got to the 
door, he found that the whole palace was made 
of polished marble, with wonderful figures and 
decorations. Soldiers marched up and down be- 
fore the doors, blowing their trumpets and beat- 
ing theiv drums. Inside the palace, counts, 
barons, and dukes walked about as attendants, 
and they opened the doors, which were of pure 
gold. 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 79 

He went in, and saw his wife sitting on a huge 
throne made of solid gold. It was at least two 
miles high. She had on her head a great golden 
crown set with diamonds three yards high. In 
one hand she held the scepter, and in the other 
the orb of empire. On each side of her stood the 
gentlemen-at-arms in two rows, each one a little 
smaller than the other, from giants two miles 
high down to the tiniest dwarf no bigger than 
my little finger. She was surrounded by princes 
and dukes. 

Her husband stood still, and said: “ Wife, are 
you now Emperor? ” 

“ Yes,’’ said she; “ now I am Emperor.” 

Then he looked at her for some time, and 
said: ‘‘Alas, wife, how much better off are you 
for being Emperor? ” 

“ Husband,” she said, “ what are you stand- 
ing there for? Now I am Emperor, I mean to 
be Pope! Go back to the flounder.” 

“ Alas, wife,” said the man, “ what will you 
not want? Pope you cannot be. There is only 
one pope in Christendom. That’s more than the 
flounder can do.” 

“ Husband,” she said, “ Pope I will be; so go 
at once. I must be Pope this very day.” 


80 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 


“ No, wife,” he said. “ The flounder cannot 
make you PoiDe.” 

“ Husband,” said the woman, “ don’t talk non- 
sense. If he can make an emperor, he can make 
a pope. Go immediately. I am Emperor, and 
you are only my husband, and must obey.” 

So he went, but he shivered and shook, and his 
knees trembled. 

A great wind arose over the land, the clouds 
flew across the sky, and it grew as dark as night ; 
the leaves fell from the trees, and the water 
foamed and dashed upon the shore. In the dis- 
tance the ships were being tossed to and fro on 
the waves, and he heard them firing signals of 
distress. There was still a little patch of blue in 
the sky among the dark clouds, but towards the 
south they were red and heavy, as in a bad storm. 
In despair, he stood and said: 

“ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me: 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 

“ Now, what does she want? ” said the floun- 
der. 

“ Alas,” said the man, “ she wants to be 
Pope!” 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 81 

Go back. Pope she is,” said the flounder. 

So back he went, and he found a great church 
surrounded with palaces. He pushed through 
the crowd, and inside he found thousands and 
thousands of lights, and his wife, entirely clad in 
gold, was sitting on a still higher throne, with 
three golden crowns uj)on her head. On each 
side of her were two rows of candles, the biggest 
as thick as a tower, domi to the tiniest little 
taper. Kings and emperors were on their loiees 
before her, kissing her shoe. 

“ Wife,” said the man, looking at her, “ are 
you now Pope? ” 

“ Yes,” said she; “ now I am Pope.” 

So he stood gazing at her, and it was like look- 
ing at a shining sun. 

“ Alas, wife,” he said, “ are you better off for 
being Pope? ” 

At first she sat as stiff as a post, without stir- 
ring. Then he said: “Now, wife, be content 
with being Pope ; higher you cannot go.” 

“ I will think about that,” said the woman, and 
with that they both went to bed. The man slept 
well and soundly, for he had walked about a 
great deal in the day; but his wife could think of 
nothing but what further grandeur she could de- 


82 THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 

mand. When the dawn reddened the sky she 
raised herself up in bed and looked out of the 
window, and when she saw the sun rise, she said; 

“ Ha! can I not cause the sun and the moon to 
rise? Husband!” she cried, digging her elbow 
into his side, “ wake up and go to the flounder. 
I will be Lord of the Universe.” 

Her husband, who was still more than half 
asleep, was so shocked that he fell out of bed. 
He thought he must have heard wrong. He 
rubbed his eyes, and said: 

“ Wife, what did you say? ” 

‘‘ Husband,” she said, “ if I cannot be Lord 
of the Universe, and cause the sun and moon to 
set and rise, I shall not be able to bear it. I shall 
never have another happy moment.” 

She looked at him so wildly that it caused a 
shudder to run through him. 

‘‘ Alas, wife,” he said, falling on his knees be- 
fore her, “ the flounder can’t do that. Emperor 
and Pope he can make, but that is indeed beyond 
him. I pray you, control yourself and remain 
Pope.” 

Then she flew into a terrible rage. Her hair 
stood on end; she kicked him and screamed; 

“ I won’t bear it any longer; will you go! ” " 


THE FISHERMAN AND WIFE 83 


Then he pulled on his trousers and tore away 
like a madman. Such a storm was raging that he 
could hardly keep his feet: houses and trees quiv- 
ered and swayed, and mountains trembled, and 
the rocks rolled into the sea. The sky was pitchy 
black; it thundered and lightened, and the sea 
ran in black waves mountains high, crested with 
white foam. He shrieked out, but could hardly 
make himself heard: 

“ Flounder, flounder in the sea, 

Prythee, hearken unto me: 

My wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, 

And sends me to beg a boon of thee.” 

‘‘ Now, what does she want? ” asked the floun- 
der. 

“ Alas,” he said, “ she wants to be Lord of the 
Universe.” - 

‘‘ Now she must go back to her old hut,” said 
the flounder; “ and there she is.” So there they 
are to this very day. 


THE GOLDEN GOOSE 


HERE was once a man who had three sons. 



The youngest of them was called Simple- 
ton; he was scorned by the others, and kept in 
the background. 

The eldest son was going into the forest to cut 
wood, and before he started, his mother gave him 
a nice sweet cake and a bottle of wine to take 
with him, so that he might not suffer from hun- 
ger or thirst. In the wood he met a little, old, 
gray man, who bade him good-day, and said, 
“ Give me a bit of the cake in your pocket, and 
let me have a drop of your wine. I am so hun- 
gry and thirsty.” 

But the clever son said: “ If I give you my 
cake and wine, I shan’t have enough for myself. 
Be off with you.” 

He left the little man standing there, and went 
on his way. But he had not been long at work, 
cutting down a tree, before he made a false 
stroke, and dug the ax into his own arm, and he 
was obliged to go home to have it bound up. 

Now, this was no accident; it was brought 
about by the little gray man. 




THE GOLDEN GOOSE 


85 


The second son now had to go into the forest 
to cut wood, and, like the eldest, his mother gave 
him a sweet cake and a bottle of wine. In the 
same way the little gray man met him, and asked 
for a piece of his cake and a drop of his wine. 
But the second son made the same answer, “ If 
I give you any, I shall have the less for myself. 
Be off out of my way,” and he went on. 

His punishment, however, was not long de- 
layed. After a few blows at the tree, he hit his 
own leg, and had to be carried home. 

Then Simpleton said, “ Let me go to cut the 
wood, father.” 

But his father said, “ Your brothers have only 
come to harm by it ; you had better leave it alone. 
You know nothing about it.” But Simpleton 
begged so hard to be allowed to go that at last 
his father said, “ Well, off you go then. You 
will be wiser when you have hurt yourself.” 

His mother gave him a cake which was only 
mixed with water and baked in the ashes, and a 
bottle of sour beer. When he reached the forest, 
like the others, he met the little gray man. 

“ Give me a bit of the cake in your pocket and 
a drop of your wine. I am so hungry and 
thirsty,” said the little man. 


86 


THE GOLDEN GOOSE 


Simpleton answered, “ I only have a cake 
baked in the ashes, and some sour beer; but, if 
you like such fare, we will sit down and eat it 
together.” 

So they sat down; but when Simpleton pulled 
out his cake it was a sweet, nice cake, and his 
sour beer was turned into good wine. So they 
ate and drank, and the little man said, “ As you 
have such a good heart, and are willing to share 
your goods, I will give you good luck. There 
stands an old tree ; cut it down, and you will find 
something at the roots.” 

So saying, he disappeared without giving Sim- 
pleton any further directions. 

Simpleton cut down the tree, and when it fell, 
lo, and behold! a goose was sitting among the 
roots, and its feathers were of pure gold. He 
picked it up, and taking it with him, went to an 
inn, where he meant to stay the night. The land- 
lord had three daughters, who saw the goose, and 
were veiy curious as to what kind of bird it 
could be, and wanted to get one of its golden 
feathers. 

The eldest thought, “ There will soon be some 
opportunity for me to pull out one of the feath- 
ers,” and when Simpleton went outside, she took 


THE GOLDEN GOOSE 87 

hold of its wing to pluck out a feather; but her 
hand stuck fast, and she could not get away. 

Soon after, the second sister came up, meaning 
also to pluck out one of the golden feathers; but 
she had hardly touched her sister when she found 
herself held fast. 

Lastly, the third one came, with the same in- 
tention, but the others screamed out, ‘‘ Keep 
away ! For goodness’ sake, keep away ! ” 

But she, not knowing why she was to keep 
away, thought, “ Why should I not be there, if 
they are there? ” 

So she ran up, but as soon as she touched her 
sisters she had to stay hanging on to them, and 
they all had to pass the night like this. 

In the morning, Simpleton took the goose un- 
der his arm, without noticing the three girls 
hanging on behind. They had to keep running 
behind, dodging his legs right and left. 

In the middle of the fields they met the parson, 
who, when he saw the procession, cried out: “For 
shame, you bold girls! Why do you run after 
the lad like that? Do you call that proper be- 
havior? ” 

Then he took hold of the hand of the youngest 
girl to pull her away; but no sooner had he 


88 THE GOLDEN GOOSE 

touched her than he felt himself held fast, and 
he, too, had to run behind. 

Soon after the sexton came up, and, seeing his 
master the parson treading on the heels of the 
three girls, cried out in amazement, “ Hullo, 
your reverence! Whither away so fast? Don’t 
forget that we have a christening! ” 

So saying, he plucked the parson by the sleeve, 
and soon found that he could not get away. 

As this party of five, one behind the other, 
tramped on, two peasants came along the road, 
carrying their hoes. The parson called them, 
and asked them to set the sexton and himself 
free. But as soon as ever they touched the sex- 
ton they were held fast, so now there were seven 
people running behind Simpleton and his goose. 

By-and-by they reached a town, where a king 
ruled whose only daughter was so solemn that 
nothing and nobody could make her laugh. So 
the King had proclaimed that whoever could 
make her laugh should marry her. 

When Simpleton heard this he took his goose, 
with all his following, before her, and when she 
saw these seven people running, one behind an- 
other, she burst into fits of laughter, and it 
seemed as if she could never stop. 


THE GOLDEN GOOSE 89 

Thereupon Simpleton asked for her in mar- 
riage. But the King did not like him for a son- 
in-law, and he made all sorts of conditions. 
First, he said Simpleton must bring him a man 
who could drink up a cellar full of wine. 

Then Simpleton at once thought of the little 
gray man who might be able to help him, and he 
went out to the forest to look for him. On the 
very spot where the tree that he had cut down 
had stood, he saw a man sitting with a very sad 
face. Simpleton asked him what was the matter 
and he answered: 

“ I am so thirsty, and I can’t quench my thirst. 
I hate cold water, and I have already emptied a 
cask of wine; but what is a drop like that on a 
burning stone? ” 

“ Well, there I can help you,” said Simpleton. 
“ Come with me, and you shall soon have enough 
to drink and to spare.” 

He led him to the King’s cellar, and the man 
drank and drank till his sides ached, and by the 
end of the day the cellar was empty. 

Then again Simpleton demanded his bride. 
But the King was annoyed that a wretched fel- 
low called “ Simpleton ” should have his daugh- 
ter, and he made new conditions. He was now 


90 THE GOLDEN GOOSE 

to find a man who could eat up a mountain of 
bread. 

Simpleton did not reflect long, but went 
straight to the forest, and there in the selfsame 
place sat a man tightening a strap round his 
body, and making a very miserable face. He 
said: ‘‘ I have eaten up a whole ovenful of rolls, 
but what is the good of that when any one is as 
hungry as I am? I am never satisfied. I have 
to tighten my belt every day if I am not to die of 
hunger.” 

Simpleton was delighted, and said: ‘‘ Get up 
and come with me. You shall have enough to 
eat.” 

And he took him to the court, where the King 
had caused all the flour in the kingdom to be 
brought together, and a huge mountain of bread 
to be baked. The man from the forest sat down 
before it and began to eat, and at the end of the 
day the whole mountain had disappeared. 

Now, for the third time. Simpleton asked for 
his bride. But again the King tried to find an 
excuse, and demanded a ship which could sail on 
land as well as at sea. 

“As soon as you sail up in it, you shall have my 
daughter,” he said. 


THE GOLDEN GOOSE 91 

Simpleton went straight to the forest, and 
there sat the little gray man to whom he had 
given his cake. The little man said: “ I have 
eaten and drunk for you, and now I will give you 
the ship, too. I do it all because you were merci- 
ful to me.” 

Then he gave him the ship which could sail on 
land as well as at sea, and when the King saw it 
he agreed to give Simpleton his daughter. The 
marriage was celebrated, and, at the King’s 
death. Simpleton inherited the kingdom, and 
lived long and happily with his wife. 


KARL KATZ 


I N the midst of the Hartz forests there is a high 
mountain, of which the neighbors tell all sorts 
of stories: how the goblins and fairies dance on it 
by night; and how the old Emperor Redbeard 
holds his court there, and sits on his marble 
throne, with his long beard sweeping the ground. 

A great many years ago there lived in a village 
at the foot of this mountain one Karl Katz. 
Now Karl was a goatherd, and every morning 
he drove his flock to feed upon the green spots 
that are here and there found on the mountain’s 
side. In the evening he sometimes thought it too 
late to drive the goats home; so he used in such 
cases to shut them within the old ruined walls of 
a castle that had long ago been deserted, and 
which were high enough to form a fold for the 
goats for the night. One evening he found that 
the prettiest goat of his flock had vanished, soon 
after they were driven into this fold. He 
searched everywhere for it in vain; but, to his 
surprise and delight, when he counted his flock in 
the morning, what should he see, the first of the 




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KARL KATZ 


93 


flock, but his lost goat! Again and again the 
same thing happened. At last he thought he 
would watch more closely; and, having looked 
carefully over the old walls, he found a narrow 
doorway, through which it seemed that his favor- 
ite goat made her way. Karl followed, and 
found a path leading downwards through a cleft 
in the rocks. On he went, scrambling as well as 
he could, down the side of the rock, and at last 
came to the mouth of a cave, where he lost sight 
of his goat. Just then he saw that his faithful 
dog was not with him. He whistled, but no dog 
was there; and he was therefore forced to go into 
the cave and try to find his goat by himself. 

He groped his way for a while, and at last 
came to a place where a little light found its way 
in; and there he was surprised to find his goat 
eating corn, which kept dropping from some 
place over its head. He went up and looked 
about him, to see where all this corn, that rattled 
about his ears like a hail-storm, could come from : 
but all overhead was dark, and he could find no 
clew to this strange business. 

At last, as he stood listening, he thought he 
heard the neighing and stamping of horses. He 
listened again; and after a while he was sure that 


94 


KARL KATZ 


horses were feeding above him, and that the corn 
fell from their mangers. What could these 
horses be, which were thus kept in the clefts of 
rocks, where none but the goat’s foot ever trod? 
There must be people of some sort or other living 
here; and who could they be? and was it safe to 
trust himself in such company? Karl pondered 
a while; but his wonder only grew gTeater and 
greater, when on a sudden he heard his own 
name, “Karl Katz!” echo through the cavern. 
He turned round, but could see nothing. “ Karl 
Katz I ” again sounded sharply in his ears ; and 
soon out came a little dwarf, with a high-peaked 
hat and a scarlet cloak, from a dark corner at one 
end of the cave. 

The dwarf nodded, and beckoned him to fol- 
low. Karl thought he would first like to know a 
little about who it was that thus sought his com- 
pany. He asked: but the dwarf shook his head, 
and again beckoned him to follow. Karl did so ; 
and winding his way through ruins, he soon 
heard rolling overhead what sounded like peals 
of thunder, echoing among the rocks; the noise 
grew louder and louder as he went on, and at last 
he came to a courtyard surrounded by old ivy- 
grown walls. The spot seemed to be the centre 


KARL KATZ 


95 


of a little valley; above rose on every hand high 
masses of rock; wide-branching trees threw their 
arms overhead, so that nothing but a glimmering 
twilight made its way through; and here, on the 
cool smooth-shaven turf, Karl saw twelve strange 
old figures amusing themselves very sedately 
with a game of nine-pins. 

Their costume did not seem altogether strange 
to Karl, for in the church of the town where he 
went every week to market there was an old mon- 
ument, with figures of queer old knights upon it, 
dressed in the very same style. None of them 
said anything, but the oldest of them ordered 
Karl Katz, by dumb signs, to set up the nine- 
pins as they knocked them down. At first his 
knees trembled, and he hardly dared snatch a 
sidelong glance at the long beards and old-fash- 
ioned dresses of the knights ; but he soon saw that 
when each had played he went to his seat, and 
there took a drink from a cup, which the dwarf 
kept filled, and which smelled of the richest old 
wine. 

Little by little Karl got bolder; and at last he 
asked the dwarf, by signs, to let him, too, take his 
turn at the wine-cup. The dwarf gave it to him 
with a bow, and Karl thought he had never tasted 


96 


KARL KATZ 


anything half so good before. As often as he 
grew tired, he took another drink. 

At last he fell asleep and when he awoke he 
found himself lying within the walls that had 
sheltered his flock, and saw that the sun was high 
up in the heavens. He rubbed his eyes and 
called to his dog; but neither dog nor goat was to 
be seen ; and when he looked about him again, the 
grass seemed to be longer than it had been yes- 
terday; and trees hung over his head, which he 
had either never seen before, or had quite forgot- 
ten. Shaking his head, and hardly knowing 
whether he was in his right mind, he got up and 
stretched himself: somehow or other his joints 
fek stiff er than they had. “ It serves me right,” 
said he ; ‘‘ this comes of sleeping out of one’s own 
bed.” Little by little he recollected his evening’s 
sport, and licked his lips as he thought of the de- 
licious wine he had drunk. “ But who,” thought 
he, ‘‘ can those people be who come to this place 
to play nine-pins? ” 

His first step was to look for the doorway 
through which he had followed his goat; but to 
his astonishment, not the least trace of an open- 
ing of any sort was to be seen. There stood the 
wall, without chink or crack big enough for a rat 


KARL KATZ 


97 


to pass through. Again he paused and scratched 
his head. He noticed that his hat was full of 
holes. “ Why, it was new last Shrove-tide! ” said 
he. His eyes fell next on his shoes, which were 
almost new when he had left home ; but now they 
looked so old that they were likely to fall to 
pieces before he could get home. All his clothes 
seemed in the same condition. The more he 
looked the more he was at a loss to know what 
could have happened to him. 

At length he turned round, and left the old 
walls to look for his flock. He took a mountain 
path where his flocks were accustomed to graze, 
but not a goat was to be seen. Again he whis- 
tled and called his dog, but no dog came. Below 
him in the plain lay the village where his home 
was ; so he turned that way. 

‘‘ Surely,” said he, “ I shall soon meet some 
neighbor, who can tell me where my goats are? ” 
But the people who met him, as he drew near to 
the village, were all unknown to him. They were 
not even dressed as his neighbors were, and it 
seemed as if they hardly spoke the same tongue. 
When he eagerly asked each about his goats, 
they only stared at him and stroked their chins. 
At last he did the same thing too; and what was 


98 


KARL KATZ 


his wonder to find that his beard had grown at 
least a foot long! “ The world/’ said he to him- 
self, “ is surely turned upside down, or if not, I 
must be bewitched; ” and yet he knew the moun- 
tain, as he turned round again, and looked back 
on its wooded heights; and he knew the houses 
and cottages also, with their little gardens, as he 
entered the village. He heard some children, 
too, call the village by the very same name he had 
always known it by. 

Again he shook his head, and went straight 
through the village to his own cottage. Alas ! it 
looked sadly out of repair; the windows were 
broken, the door off its hinges, and in the court- 
yard lay an unknown child, in a ragged dress, 
playing with a rough, toothless old dog, whom 
he thought he ought to know, but who snarled 
and barked in his face when he called to him. 
He called his wife and children loudly by their 
names: but no one heard, at least no one an- 
swered him. 

A crowd of women and children soon flocked 
around the strange-looking man with the long 
gray beard; and all said, “Who are you?” 
“Who is it you want?” It seemed to him so 
odd to ask other people, at his own door, for his 


KARL KATZ 


99 


wife and children, that, in order to get rid of the 
gaping crowd, he named the first man that came 
into his head. 

“ Hans the blacksmith,” said he. Most of 
them held their tongues and stared; but at last an 
old woman said, “ He went these seven years ago 
to a place that you will not reach to-day.” 
“ Fritz, the tailor, then.” “ Heaven rest his 
soul! ” said another old woman on crutches; “ he 
has lain these ten years in a house that he’ll never 
leave.” 

Then a young woman made her way through 
the crowd, with a baby in her arms, and a little 
girl of about three years old clinging to her hand. 
All three looked like his own wife. “ What is 
your name?” he asked. “Liese!” said she. 
“And your father’s?” “Karl Katz! Heaven 
bless him ! ” said she ; “ but, poor man ! he is lost 
and gone. It is now twenty years since we 
sought for him day and night on the mountain. 
His dog and his flock came back, but he never 
was heard of any more. I was then seven years 
old.” 

Karl burst out, “ I am Karl Katz, and no 
other! ” and he took the child from his daughter’s 
arms and kissed it over and over again. 


100 


KARL KATZ 


All stood gaping, and hardly knowing what to 
say or think, when old Stropken the schoolmas- 
ter hobbled by, and took a long and close look at 
him. “ Karl Katz! Karl Katz! ” said he slowly: 
“ why it is Karl Katz sure enough ! There is my 
own mark upon him; there is the scar over his 
right eye, that I gave him myself one day with 
my oak stick.’’ Then several others also cried 
out, “Yes, it is! it is Karl Katz! Welcome, 
neighbor, welcome home ! ” “ But where,” said 

or thought all, “ can an honest steady fellow like 
you have been these twenty years? ” 

And now the whole village had flocked around ; 
the children laughed, the dogs barked, and all 
were glad to see neighbor Karl home alive and 
well. As to where he had been for the twenty 
years, that was a part of the story at which Karl 
shrugged his shoulders; for he never could very 
well explain it, and seemed to think the less that 
was said about it the better. 


THE TWELVE HUNTSMEN 



HERE was once a prince, w^ho was engaged 


to marry the daughter of a king, whom he 
loved very much. One day when they were to- 
gether, and very happy, a messenger came from 
the Prince’s father, who was lying ill, to summon 
him home, as he wished to see him before he died. 
He said to his beloved, “ I must go away, and 
leave you now ; but I give you this ring as a keep- 
sake. When I am king, I will come and fetch 
you away.” 

Then he rode off, and when he got home he 
found his father on his death-bed. His father 
said, ‘‘ My dear son, I wanted to see you once 
more before I die. Promise to marry the bride 
I have chosen for you,” and he named a certain 
princess. 

His son was very sad, and without reflecting 
]3romised to do what his father wished, and there- 
upon the King closed his eyes and died. 

Now, when the Prince had been proclaimed 
king, and the period of mourning was past, the 
time came when he had to keep his promise to his 


102 THE TWELVE HUNTSMEN 

father. He made his offer to the Princess, and 
it was accepted. The maiden to Avhom he was 
engaged heard of this, and grieved so much over 
his faithlessness that she very nearly died. The 
King, her father, asked, “ Dear child, why are 
you so sad? You shall have whatever you wish.” 

She thought for a moment, then said, “ Dear 
father, I want eleven maidens all exactly like me 
in face, figure, and height.” 

The King said, “ If it is possible, you shall 
have your wish.” 

Then he caused a search to be made all over his 
kingdom, till the eleven maidens were found, all 
exactly like his daughter. The Princess ordered 
twelve huntsmen’s dresses to be made, which she 
commanded the maidens to wear, putting on the 
twelfth herself. Then she took leave of her fa- 
ther, and rode away with the maidens to the court 
of the former Prince whom she loved so dearly. 
She asked him if he wanted any huntsmen, and 
whether he would take them all into his service. 
The King did not recognize her, but, as they were 
all so handsome, he said, yes, he would engage 
them. So they all entered the King’s service. 

Now, the King had a lion which was a wonder- 
ful creature, for he knew all secret and hidden 


THE TWELVE HUNTSMEN 103 

things. He said to the King one evening, ‘‘ You 
fancy you have twelve huntsmen there, don’t 
you? ” 

“ Yes,” said the King. 

“ You are mistaken,” said the lion. ‘‘ They 
are twelve maidens.” 

The King answered, “ That can’t be true ! 
How can you prove it? ” 

“ Oh, have some jpeas strewn in your ante- 
room to-morrow, and you will soon see. Men 
have a firm tread, and when they walk on peas 
they don’t move; but maidens trip and trot and 
slide, and make the peas roll about.” 

The King was pleased with the lion’s advice, 
and ordered the peas to be strewn on the floor. 

There was, however, a servant of the King who 
favored the huntsmen, and when he heard that 
they were to be put to this test, he went and told 
them all about it, and said, “ The lion is going to 
prove to the King that you are maidens.” 

The Princess thanked him, and said afterwards 
to her maidens, “ Do your utmost to tread firmly 
on the peas.” 

Next morning, when the King ordered them 
to be called, they walked into the ante-chamber 
with so firm a tread that not a pea moved. 


104 THE TWELVE HUNTSMEN 


When they had gone away, the King said to the 
lion, “ You lied; they walked just like men.” 

But the lion answered, “ They had been 
warned of the test, and were prepared for it. 
Just let twelve spinning-wheels be brought into 
the ante-chamber, and they will be delighted at 
the sight, as no man would be.” 

This plan also pleased the King, and he or- 
dered the spinning-wheels. But again the kind 
servant warned the huntsmen of the plan. When 
they were alone, the Princess said to her maidens, 
“ Control yourselves, and don’t so much as look 
at the spinning-wheels.” 

When the King next morning sent for the 
huntsmen, they walked through the ante-cham- 
ber without even glancing at the spinning-wheels. 

Then the King said to the lion, ‘‘You lied to 
me. They are men; they never looked at the 
sp inning- wheels .” 

The lion answered, “ They knew that they 
were on their trial, and restrained themselves.” 

But the King would not believe him any more. 

The twelve huntsmen always went with the 
King on his hunting expeditions, and the longer 
he had them, the better he liked them. Now, it 
happened one day when they were out hunting* 


Tim TWELVE HUNTSMEN 105 

that the news came of the royal bride’s ap- 
proach. 

When the true bride heard it, the shock was so 
great that her heart nearly stopped, and she fell 
down in a dead faint. The King, thinking some- 
thing had happened to his favorite huntsman, 
ran to help him, and pulled off his glove. Then 
he saw the ring which he had given to his first 
betrothed, and when he looked her in the face he 
recognized her. He was so moved that he kissed 
her, and when she opened her eyes he said, 
“ Thou art mine, and I am thine, and nobody in 
the world shall separate us.” 

Then he sent a messenger to the other bride, 
and begged her to go home, as he already had a 
wife, and he who has an old dish does not need a 
new one. Their marriage was then celebrated, 
and the lion was taken into favor again, as, after 
all, he had spoken the truth. 


HANS IN LUCK 


H ans had served his master for seven years, 
when he one day said to him: ‘‘ Master, my 
time is up, I want to go home to my mother; 
please give me my wages.” 

His master answered, “ You have served me 
well and faithfully, and as the service has been, 
so shall the wages be ” ; and he gave him a lump 
of gold as big as his head. 

Hans took out his pocket-handkerchief and 
tied up the gold in it, and then slung the bundle 
over his shoulder, and started on his homeward 
journey. 

As he walked along, just dragging one foot 
after the other, a man on horseback appeared, 
riding, fresh and gay, along on his spirited horse. 

“Ah!” said Hans, quite loud as he passed, 
“ what a fine thing riding must be. You are as 
comfortable as if you were in an easy-chair; you 
don’t stumble over any stones; you save your 
shoes, and you get over the road without bother.” 

The horseman, who heard him, stopped and 
said, “ Hullo, Hans, why are you on foot? ” 


HANS IN LUCK 


107 


“ I can’t help myself,” said Hans, “ as I have 
this bundle to carry home. It is true that it is 
a lump of gold, but I can hardly hold my head up 
for it, and it weighs down my shoulder fright- 
fully.” 

“ I’ll tell you what,” said the horseman, “ we 
will change. I will give you my horse, and you 
shall give me your bundle.” 

‘‘With all my heart,” said Hans; “but you 
will find it a burden.” 

The horseman dismounted, took the gold, and 
helped Hans up, put the bridle into his hands, 
and said: “ When you want to go very fast, you 
must click your tongue and cry ‘gee-up, gee- 
up.’ ” 

Hans was delighted when he found himself so 
easily riding along on horseback. After a time 
it occurred to him that he might be going faster, 
and he began to click with his tongue, and to cry 
“ gee-up, gee-up.” The horse broke into a gal- 
lop, and before Hans knew where he was, he was 
thrown off into a ditch which separated the fields 
from the highroad. The horse would have run 
away if a peasant coming along the road leading 
a cow had not caught it. Hans felt himself all 
over, and picked himself up; but he was very 


108 


HANS IN LUCK 


angry, and said to the peasant: “ Riding is poor 
fun at times, when you have a nag like mine, 
which stumbles and throws you, and puts you in 
danger of breaking your neck. I will never 
mount it again. I think much more of that cow 
of yours. You can walk comfortably behind her, 
and you have her milk into the bargain every 
day, as well as butter and cheese. What would 
I not give for a cow like that! ” 

“ Well,’’ said the peasant, “ if you have such a 
fancy for it as all that, I will exchange the cow 
for the horse.” 

Hans accepted the offer with delight, and the 
peasant mounted the horse and rode rapidly off. 

Hans drove his cow peacefully along, and 
thought what a lucky bargain he had made. “ If 
only I have a bit of bread, and I don’t expect 
ever to be without that, I shall always have but- 
ter and cheese to eat with it. If I am thirsty, I 
only have to milk my cow and I have milk to 
drink. My heart! what more can you desire? ” 

When he came to an inn he made a halt, and in 
great joy he ate up all the food he had with him, 
all his dinner and his supper, too, and he gave 
the last coins he had for half a glass of beer. 
Then he went on further in the direction of his 


HANS IN LUCK 


109 


mother’s village, driving his cow before him. 
The heat was overpowering, and, as midday drew 
near, Hans found himself on a heath which it 
took him an hour to cross. He was so hot and 
thirsty that his tongue was parched and clung to 
the roof of his mouth. 

“ This can easily be set to rights,” thought 
Hans. “ I will milk my cow and sup up the 
milk.” He tied her to a tree, and as he had no 
pail, he used his leather cap instead; but, try as 
hard as he could, not a single drop of milk ap- 
peared. As he was very clumsy, the impatient 
animal gave him a severe kick on his forehead 
with one of her hind legs. He was stunned by 
the blow, and fell to the ground, where he lay for 
some time, not knowing where he was. 

Happily just then a butcher came along the 
road, trundling a young pig in a wheelbarrow. 

“ What is going on here? ” he cried, as he 
helped poor Hans up. 

Hans told him all that had happened. 

The butcher handed him his flask, and said: 
‘‘ Here, take a drink, it will do you good. The 
cow can’t give any milk, I suppose ; she must be 
too old, and good for nothing but to be a beast of 
burden, or to go to the butcher.” 


110 


HANS IN LUCK 


‘'Oh dear!” said Hans, smoothing his hair. 
“ Now who would ever have thought it! Killing 
the animal is all veiy well, but what kind of meat 
will it be? For my j)art, I don’t like cow’s flesh; 
it’s not juicy enough. Now, if one had a nice 
young pig like that, it would taste ever so much 
better; and then, all the sausages! ” 

“ Listen, Hans! ” then said the butcher, “ for 
your sake I will exchange, and let you have the 
pig instead of the cow.” 

“God reward your friendship!” said Hans, 
handing over the cow, as the butcher untied the 
pig, and put the halter with which it was tied into 
his hand. 

Hans want on his way, thinking how well 
everything was turning out for him. Even if a 
mishap befell him, something else immediately 
happened to make up for it. Soon after this, he 
met a lad carrying a beautiful white goose under 
his arm. They passed the time of day, and 
Hans began to tell him how lucky he was, and 
what successful bargains he had made. The lad 
told him that he was taking the goose for a chris- 
tening feast. “ J ust feel it,” he went on, hold- 
ing it up by the wings. “ Feel how heavy it is; 
it’s true they have been stuffing it for eight 


HANS IN LUCK 


111 


weeks. Whoever eats that roast goose will have 
to wipe the fat off both sides of his mouth.” 

“Yes, indeed!” answered Hans, weighing it 
in his hand; “but my pig is no light weight 
either.” 

Then the lad looked cautiously about from 
side to side, and shook his head. “ Now, look 
here,” he began, “ I don’t think it’s all quite 
straight about your pig. One has just been 
stolen out of Schultze’s sty, in the village I have 
come from. I fear, I fear it is the one you are 
leading. They have sent people out to look for 
it, and it would be a bad business for you if you 
were found with it; the least they would do, 
would be to put you in the black hole.” 

Poor Hans was very much frightened at this. 
“Oh dear! oh dear!” he said. “Do help me 
out of this trouble. You are more at home here; 
take my pig, and let me have your goose.” 

“ Well, I shall run some risk if I do, but I 
won’t be the means of getting you into a scrape.” 

So he took the rope in his hand, and quickly 
drove the pig up a side road; and honest Hans, 
relieved of his trouble, plodded on with the goose 
under his arm. 

“ When I really come to think it over,” he said 


112 


HANS IN LUCK 


to himself, “ I have still had the best of the bar- 
gain. First, there is the delicious roast goose, 
and then all the fat that will drip out of it in 
roasting will keep us in goose-fat to eat on our 
bread for three months at least; and, last of all, 
there are the beautiful white feathers which I will 
stuff my pillow with, and then I shall need no 
rocking to send me to sleep. How delighted my 
mother will be.” 

As he passed through the last village he came 
to a knife-grinder with his cart, singing to his 
wheel as it buzzed merrily round: 

“ Scissors and knives I grind so fast, 

And hang up my cloak against the blast.” 

Hans stopped to look at him, and at last he 
spoke to him and said, “ You must be doing 
a good trade to be so merry over your grind- 
ing.” 

“ Yes,” answered the grinder. “ The work of 
one’s hands is the foundation of a golden fortune. 
A good grinder finds money whenever he puts 
his hand into his pocket. But where did you buy 
that beautiful goose? ” 

“ I did not buy it; I exchanged my pig for it.” 

“ And the pig? ” 


113 


HANS IN LUCK 

“ Oh, I got that instead of my cow.’’ 

“ And the cow? ” 

‘‘ I got that for a horse.” 

“ And the horse? ” 

‘‘ I gave a lump of gold as big as my head 
for it.” 

“ And the gold? ” 

“ Oh, that was my wages for seven years’ serv- 
ice.” 

“ You certainly have known how to manage 
your affairs,” said the grinder. ‘‘ Now, if you 
could manage to hear the money jingling in your 
pockets when you got up in the morning, you 
would indeed have made your fortune.” 

‘‘ How shall I set about that? ” asked Hans. 

‘‘ You must be a grinder like me — nothing is 
needed for it but a whetstone; everything else 
will come of itself. I have one here which cer- 
tainly is a little damaged, but you need not give 
me anything for it but your goose. Are you 
willing? ” 

“ How can you ask me such a question? ” said 
Hans. “Why, I shall be the happiest person 
in the world. If I can have some money every 
time I put my hand in my pocket, what more 
should I have to trouble about? ” 


114 


HANS IN LUCK 

So he Handed him the goose, and took the 
whetstone in exchange. 

“ Now,” said the grinder, lifting up an ordi- 
nary large stone which lay near on the road, 
“ here is another good stone into the bargain. 
You can hammer out all your old nails on it to 
straighten them. Take it, and carry it off.” 

Hans shouldered the stone, and went on his 
way with a light heart, and his eyes shining with 
joy. “I must have been born in a lucky hour,” 
he cried; “ everything happens just as I want it, 
and as it would happen to a Sunday’s child.” 

In the meantime, as he had been on foot since 
daybreak, he began to feel very tired, and he was 
also very hungry, as he had eaten all his provi- 
sions at once in his joy at his bargain over the 
cow. At last he could hardly walk any further, 
and he was obliged to stop every minute to rest. 
Then the stones were frightfully heavy, and he 
could not get rid of the thought that it would be 
very nice if he were not obliged to carry them 
any further. He dragged himself like a snail to 
a well in the fields, meaning to rest and refresh 
himself with a drink of cool water. So as not to 
injure the stones by sitting on them, he laid them 
carefully on the edge of the well. Then he sat 


HANS IN LUCK 


115 


down, and was about to stoop down to drink 
when he inadvertently gave them a little push, 
and both the stones fell straight into the water. 

When Hans saw them disappear before his 
very eyes he jumped for joy, and then knelt 
down and thanked God, with tears in his eyes, 
for having shown him this further grace, and re- 
lieved him of the heavy stones (which were all 
that remained to trouble him) without giving 
him anything to reproach himself with. “ There 
is certainly no one under the sun so happy as I.” 

And so, with a light heart, free from every 
care, he now bounded on home to his mother. 


THE END 











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